Dark Flower
by Naruluv95
Summary: Naruto finds a dark haired beauty in the forest who has no memory of who she is or how she got there. But what happens when Naruto develops feelings for her? If she finds out who she is, would it change things? Rated M for language and safety
1. Who is she?

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. I'm just a fan!

Please give reviews! I love to read them!

Chapter 1

Moriko ran. She didn't know where she was going, she just knew she needed to get away. She was completly depleted of her chakra, which was to be expected. She had been running for nearly a day and a half nonstop. But she couldn't stop. He could be right behind her. If she had learned one thing about him, it was that his endurance was endless.

Panting heavily, she continued to run through the green forest. Until her sandal got caught on a tree root. She shrieked, then fell head first onto the ground, rolling a few times from the speed she was traviling at. What finally made her come to a stop was when her head came in smack contact with a large tree.

Pain shot through her. Slowly, she reached up to feel where she hit her head. She winced, it hurt! Pulling her hand back, she examined the red substance on her hand. Blood?

But she didn't have time to be in pain! She had to keep running from...what? Why was she running? She couldn't remember...

* * *

It had been a two weeks since Naruto returned to the village from traning with Jiraiya. The 16 year old blond was walking through the border of the village, by the forest that surrounded it, taking in the scenery that he had missed so much.

"Yo! Naruto!"

Naruto turned around to see Kiba riding Akamaru (Naruto still couldn't believe how huge Akamaru was).

"Hey, Kiba!" Naruto said, flashing one of his famous smiles. "What's up?"

"I was gunna a-"

Kiba was cut off by a loud, feminine shriek that came from the forest followed by a loud thud that caused one of the nearby trees to shake, causing all of the birds to fly out of it.

"What the hell was that?" Kiba said, as he and Naruto headed into the forest to check it out.

It didn't take them long to find the cause of the scream and thud. Sitting at the base of the tree and bleeding perfusly from the back of her head was one of the most beautiful girls the boys had ever seen. Her waist length black, spikey hair was tied back into a ponytail that was probably much more orderly earlier, because now it was filled with twigs and blood.

Her face was covered in sweat and her eyes that were equally as black as her hair were hooded as she looked at the blood in her hand like she had no idea what it was.

She was wearing a short, blue-black skirt with fishnet tights that came to her mid-thigh. Her black boots came up to her knee. Her turtle neck sleveless shirt was the same color of her skirt, and showed about half of her toned stomach. She had fingerless gloves that came up to her elbow.

She looked up at them looking as confused as she did while looking at her hand.

Naruto cleared his throat and squatted next to her.

"Um hi. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. How'd you get here? Do you want us to take you to the hospital? Your head looks really bad."

She didn't respond. She just stared at Naruto and Kiba.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kiba asked.

She looked at him. "W-Why...am i r-running?" And with that she passed out.

Naruto looked up at Kiba. "Well what do you think? Should we take her to the hospital?"

"Of course we should, idiot! Do you see how bad her head it bleeding?"

Naruto looked at the beautiful girl. He was by no means a pervert, like Ero-sennin. But something about having to carry her made him blush.

Clearing his throat again, he lifted her into her arms. She began bleeding badly on his orange and black jumpsuit.

"Damn, she _is_ bleeding bad. Let's hurry." He said and quickly turned his back to Kiba before the Inuzuka boy could see how badly Naruto was blushing.

* * *

"Hey, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura sighed. Naruto had only been back for two weeks and he was already bugging her like crazy. It was a wonder that she had ever missed the blond. But it wasn't like him to bug her while she was working.

"What do you want, Naruto? I'm working." She said without even bothering to turn around and face him.

"Well, there's this girl-"

"You're here to tell me about girl problems?" Sakura snapped. But for some reason the thought made her feel a twinge of jealously.

"Well no, Kiba and I found her in the forest and she's hurt pretty badly..."

Sakura turned around and gasped.

An unconscious dark-haired girl was draped in Naruto's arms. She was the most beautiful girl Sakura had ever seen. She made Sakura want to cluch her chest in jealousy. The girl was seriously endowed. Naruto was also covered in blood that seemed to be coming from her head.

Immediatly regretting how she had made assumptions with Naruto, she nodded and gestured to him and Kiba who was standing close to Naruto. "Follow me." She said, all buisness.

Naruto and Kiba quickly did as she said as she led them to a white hospital room, where Naruto placed the girl onto the bed. Sakura immediately started to examine the wound. It was even worse then it looked. She had put a pretty big gash through her skull. Sakura's immediate conclusion was that the girl probably wouldn't make it. She looked up to deliver the news to Kiba and Naruto, and stopped.

Kiba and Naruto both looked extremely anxious. "Well? Is she gunna make it?" Naruto demanded.

In any other case, Sakura would've pounded him for demanding anything from her. But he was clearly scared for the girls well being. Once again, she was touched by his kindness. And to a girl he didn't even know, too. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she probably wouldn't make it.

She sighed. "How did this happen?"

Kiba shrugged. "We don't know. We were walking when we heard her scream and we ran to see what happened."

Sakura sighed again. "Well, she is too injured for _me _to do anything..." The boys faces fell. "But I could talk to Tsunade-sama and see if she'd be willing to take a look."

"Yatta! You're the best, Sakura-chan!" Naruto proclaimed.

She smiled. Maybe that's why she had missed him so much. He was always so happy.

Sakura wrapped a bandage around the girl's head, and applied a cold compress.

"Naruto, could you apply pressure to her head with this to stop the bleeding while I go look for Tsunade-sama?"

"Yeah, sure!" He said and held it to her head as Sakura ran out of the room.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura called as she knocked frantically on the Hokage's door.

"Come in." Tsunade said with a sigh.

"Tsunade-sama, Naruto and Kiba found a girl in the forest with bad head damage. I don't think she has much of a chance, but could you take a look at her?"

Tsunade stood up. "How bad?"

"She has a pretty bad gash in her skull and the bleeding doesn't look like it's getting any better."

Tsunade sighed. "I'll come take a look."

* * *

Tsunade finished healing the girls skull. She could only imagine the force it must've taken to crack it so badly. What had happened to her? She was completely out of chakra too. She had scratches up and down her body. She didn't have any identification to show where she was from.

Naruto was hovering over her impatiently. "Well, Baa-chan? Is she okay?"

Tsunade grimaced. "Dammit, Naruto, it would be much easier to work if you weren't breathing down my neck!" She sighed. "Yes, she'll be alright."

"Yes!" Naruto cheered.

"Alright!" Kiba said.

"However!" Tsunade said to silence the boy's cheering. Once she had their attention again, she continued.

"The crack in her skull was even worse then we originally thought. The fragments of her skull entered her brain. Chances are, she won't remember a thing. Who she is, where she came from, or how she got here."

"Is there any chance she'll remember anything again?" Kiba questioned.

Tsunade sighed. "There's no way to tell. Probably not. However, I've seen people recover from worse. I've removed all the fragments from her brain, but the damage is done. Either she'll remember or she won't."

"Is there anything we can do to help her remember?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade sighed again. It was so dammed hard to be patient with these two!

"Leave Tsunade-sama alone! She just preformed a very difficult surgery!" Sakura snapped, waving her fist around.

"It's fine, Sakura." Tsunade said. Then she shrugged. "A way to make someone who lost all their memories remember them is to jog their memory. But we don't know anything about her so we wouldn't even know where to start." Tsunade looked back at the girl who was still unconscious on the bed with a bandage wrapped around her head. "She'll probably wake up in a few days." She said to Sakura. "Change her bandages every few hours."

"Hai!" Sakura said and left the room to attend to other things.

Tsunade looked back at Kiba and Naruto. "You two should get home. It's late."

Kiba's eyes widened as he saw the time. "Oh crap! My mom is gunna kill me!" He said as he ran out of the hospital.

"See ya, Baa-chan!" Naruto said as he walked out.

Tsunade couldn't help but smile. But how she hated him calling her granny...

**A few days later**

"Naruto! Hey, Naruto!"

Naruto groaned as he rolled over in bed to look at the time. Noon.

"**NARUTO!**" He heard Sakura bellow as she continued to pound on his door.

"Mmmpgh coming." Naruto moaned as he trudged to the door. He opened it and winced as sunlight flooded his apartment.

"What are you doing still asleep? It's noon!" Sakura snapped.

"Mmm yeah I guess it is." He yawned. "What's up?"

Sakura sighed, realizing that was probably the best response she'd get from the spikey-haired ninja. Then she smiled.

"Hm?" Naruto said, confused with her sudden change of attitude.

"It's the girl you and Kiba found. She's awake!"

* * *

Alrighty! There was my first chapter of my first fanfic! Please review! Suggestions are welcome, as long as they aren't rude! Thanks, hope you liked it!


	2. Emiko

Once again, I do not own Naruto or its characters. I'm just a mega fan!

Please review and enjoy!

Chapter 2

Naruto, now fully awake, widened his eyes. "Really? You're serious?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, but couldn't keep a grin off her face. "Of course I'm serious, baka! Actually, she's been asking for you."

Naruto gaped. "Really?"

"YES REALY!" Sakura said laughing. "But she couldn't remember your name. She just called you 'the blond boy'"

Naruto ran a hand through his hair with his signature goofy grin on his face. "It makes sense that she would remember my hair. Few can forget it!" Naruto said as he and Sakura started for the hospital.

"So can she remember anything?" Naruto asked.

Sakura shrugged. "Not really. She says the only things she can remember is you and Kiba. She recovered remarkably quick though. We expected her to be out of it for at least 4 days. She came around last night, so she was only out for two. She doesn't even seem to have a concussion. She's eating and talking fine, and she says shes not in any pain. Tsunade-sama says she can leave the hospital."

"But where would she go?" Naruto said, confused.

Sakura smiled. "Well, thats where you come in. Tsunade-sama says since you were the one who found her, she should stay with you. At least until she remembers where she came from so she can go back."

Naruto blushed. The thought of having a girl like that in his house..."But what about Kiba?"

Sakura scoffed. "Yeah, like his mom would let him have a girl like that in their house." Then she grew serious. "But I swear, Naruto, if you pull a Jiraiya move, I'll-"

"H-Hey! I'm nothing like Ero-sennin!" Naruto said defensively.

Sakura smiled. "Yeah, I know. But Tsunade-sama asked me to make sure you didn't become a pervert while you were with the king of the perverts."

Naruto snorted. "No worries."

Naruto and Sakura went into the hospital room where the girl was sitting in the bed in her hospital gown. She was munching on a piece of bread while looking at a bird that was fussing on making a nest in a tree that was right outside her window. She heard them coming and looked up.

She was even more beautiful then Naruto remembered. Her spikey hair wasn't in a ponytail now, it was hanging loose at her sides, down to her waist. Her eyes were bright and full of life. There wasn't a scratch on her.

"Oh! Naruto-kun!" She said in a voice that rang like bells. Then she smiled the most beautiful smile Naruto had ever seen.

"Thank you so much for coming to save me. I really wish I could tell you what I was doing there, but I can't remember..." She looked embarrassed that she couldn't remember anything.

"Hey, it's fine-" Naruto stopped when he realized that he didn't know her name. Neither did she. What on earth would he call her when she was living with him?

Sakura, sensing his dilemma, came to his rescue. "We've been calling her Emiko, because she's been blessed that you and Kiba came along when you did."

"Fitting, isn't it? But seriously, thank you so much for coming when you heard me. In this day and age, not many people would come and help someone, especially some stranger." Emiko said.

Sakura picked up a stack of dark blue clothes that were on a chair by her bed. "Here, put these on and Naruto will take you home."

Emiko flashed that dazzling smile of hers. "Okay." She said before she walked off into the bathroom.

Emiko shut the door and sighed. 'Naruto-kun' she thought. What a beautiful name...and face...and he was so kind to. She shook the thought from her head as she began to get dressed. A guy as nice as Naruto was out of her league. All the girls in the village must be after him. Plus, she didn't even know who she was. He wouldn't be interested. There just wasn't a way. He probably had a thing for that pink haired nurse, Sakura. They seemed pretty close...

Emiko sighed as she finished getting dressed and walked out of the bathroom.

Naruto smiled at her and gestured to the door. "C'mon. I'll show you my house."

"Okay." Emiko said, trying not to be too enthusiastic. "Thank you for what you did for me Sakura!" Emiko called while she and Naruto left the hospital.

Emiko looked around at the busy villagers and all the shops. Konoha was so beautiful, so quaint. Actually, maybe quaint wasn't the right word. As she looked around, most of the buildings were kinda big, and so was the village itself. But something had a homey feel to it. Maybe how all the villagers seemed to know each other.

"It's so pretty!" Emiko said, admiring the village.

Naruto beamed. "You bet it is! And one day, I'll be its Hokage!"

Emiko looked up at him. "Really, Naruto-kun? That's great! Someone as kind as you would make a great Hokage!"

Naruto beamed even brighter. "You really think so?" He said as they started walking.

"Absolutely! You have all the qualities I would see in a good Hokage. Well, I guess I actually don't really know you that well, but it seems like you do. Plus you seem really strong, I can tell by looking at you." Emiko blushed. Had she really just said that? "What I meant was, you look like you probably know a lot of justus and stuff, cause you're a ninja, so you probably have a lot of stamina and stuff, cause, I mean, I'm not light, and you carried me all the way into the hospital..." Oh man. She was just making it worse for herself! Now he probably thought she was a rambling weirdo. She began to blush badly.

To her surprise, Naruto didn't give her a funny look or call her weird. Instead, he smiled such a brilliant smile, like she had just given him the biggest complement possible. It made her heart skip a beat.

"Thanks! I've been out of the village for the past 3 years training with Ero-sennin." Now it was Naruto's turn to blush. Had he really just called his sensei pervy sage right in front of her? Would it have killed him to call him Jiraiya-sensei just once?

To Naruto's relief, she giggled, a sound that was as smooth as silk. "Ero-sennin?" She said.

Naruto, still blushing, said, "Well, his name is Jiraiya, but he's a major perv, so I call him Ero-sennin."

She laughed. Without giving it a second thought, she said, "That's cute!" Oh my _God! _Had she really just called him cute? Was she an idiot? 'BAKA!' She screamed to herself, while her face turned as red as the ramen stand they were passing.

Naruto blushed. She thinks he's cute! He had no idea what to say. What _could _he say? He glanced at her, only to see her as red as he was. 'Damn' he thought. She didn't mean it like that, and now she's embarrassed because she thinks thats how he interpreted it.

Feeling a little let down, Naruto prepared to change the subject when, thankfully, Shikamaru came up to them.

"Yo, Naruto." Then he saw Emiko, and was clearly unprepared for how beautiful she was. He blushed lightly and cleared his throat. "Um, hi. You must be the girl Naruto and Kiba found. I'm Shikamaru."

Thankful for something to take her mind of her blunders in her conversation with Naruto, she smiled at the spikey haired boy named Shikamaru. "Hi. They're calling me Emiko."

Shikamaru nodded, then turned his attention to Naruto. "Tsunade-sama wanted to see you."

"Huh? Why so soon? I haven't even gotten a chance to show Emiko around yet!" Naruto whined.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I dunno, Naruto. She wouldn't call you unless it was important. You'd better go."

Grumbling, Naruto thanked Shikamaru and turned to Emiko. "Well, I guess it's time to go see Baa-chan" He said and started in the direction of the Hokage tower. Emiko followed.

"Baa-chan? She can't have been older then in her late 20s or early 30s. Why would you call her granny?"

Naruto snorted. "It's a jutsu. It makes her look younger." Naruto said.

Emiko laughed her silky laugh. "I'll have to learn that one for when I get old."

Naruto grinned at her. God, was she cute. Why couldn't he have looks like Sasuke that got all the girls?

When Naruto got to the Hokage's office, he didn't bother knocking.

"Yo, Baa-chan." He said is a bored tone.

Emiko was shocked. To be able to show such disrespect to the Hokage...he _must _be strong. Tsunade looked a little annoyed, but didn't comment.

Emiko decided that as a guest in her village, she should show respect. After all, she was no where near as powerful as the Hokage.

Emiko bowed. "Konnichiwa, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade raised a brow. "Well, it's refreshing to get a little respect." She turned to Naruto. "I have some important information."

Emiko raised her head. "Hokage-sama, would you like me to leave?"

Usually, Tsunade would've said yes without hesitation. This girl was not a part of the village, and this information was confidential. But this girl just seemed so harmless. Plus, if she couldn't remember anything, who would she tell? This information would mean nothing to her.

"No, you can stay." She directed her attention to Naruto again. "Itachi was sighted not far from the village by an ANBU member."

'Itachi?' Emiko thought. Why did that sound so familiar? Suddenly, a shooting pain went through her head. She gasped and gripped her head. She distantly heard Naruto and Tsunade call out her name. Images of a man in a black cloak with red clouds on it. The man was tall and his black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. The man had a aura of death. But what was most unsettling about the man were his eyes. Red with an odd black swirling pattern that seared your soul. _The sharingan!_ But wait...how did she know that?

More images flashed as she held her head tight, because if she didn't, she was sure her head would've split in half.

But they stopped as quickly as they came. Her head was still throbbing, but the worst was over.

She opened her eyes slowly. Panting and sweating, she looked up to see Naruto supporting her. It was only then that she realized that her knees buckled and she would've collapsed should Naruto not have caught her. She stood up on her two wobbly feet and turned to look at Tsunade who had stood up, and was looking at her worried.

"I-Itachi...U-Uchiha?"

* * *

YAY! Okay that was chapter two of my first fanfic! Please review! Sorry if some of my japanese slangs are wrong...I did my best! Next chapter will be out soon!


	3. Waterfall

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters! I'm just a fan!

Chapter 3 of my first fanfic. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Tsunade gaped. Just who is this girl?

Naruto's expression was just as surprised. "How do you know him?" He said.

"I...um I think...gah I don't remember! When I think of him, all I can see is him, not how I know him or when or even if we met! And those eyes..." She shivered.

Naruto looked up at Tsunade. She looked just as shocked as he did. Then she closed her eyes, sighed and sat down.

"Emiko." She said, causing her to look up at the Hokage. "Only a select few people even know about the organization that Itachi is a part of." Tsunade said slowly.

Emiko nodded. "Akatsuki, right?"

Tsunade grimaced inwardly. This girl...

"Yes. And we are currently trying to eliminate the Akatsuki threat. Since so few people even know of its existence, every person that does most likely contains important information on them." Tsunade said.

Emiko's eyes widened. "You think I know something?"

"Yes. I was originally going to let you recover your memories by yourself. But that was when we thought you were just an average girl."

Naurto didn't like this. There wasn't a way to recover someones memory for them. And if there was, Tsunade probably didn't tell them because it was probably harmful to the person.

Tsunade sighed. Naruto didn't look happy. If he knew just how dangerous to Emiko what she was going to attempt was...

"I'll ask Inoichi to take a look at your memories. He can easily find out if you have information that could be important."

Naruto didn't waste time. "Why didn't you tell us that we could do that before?"

Tsunade glared at him. "I didn't want to waste time if she was just a random villager." She didn't like lying to him, but he would flip if he knew the real reason.

He questioned her further. "Is it dangerous?"

She gritted her teeth. "Possibly. But Inoichi has done this before, everything will go fine."

Naruto still wasn't convinced. There was something in the old lady's eyes. She was downplaying the situation. But it was best not to push the Hokage. If there was one thing he learned, it was that she had a fiery temper.

"Inoichi is away on a mission in the hidden mist. I will speak to him when he returns." Tsunade said. "You may leave."

Naruto stormed out of her office without her having to ask twice. Emiko gave a quick bow to the Hokage and hurried after him.

Naruto was walking so fast, Emiko had to run to catch up.

"Naruto-kun, wait!" She said. He slowed down and she caught up to him.

"What's wrong?" She said, concerned.

"There's something she's not saying. Something important. I bet the justu she's having Inoichi use on you is more dangerous then she's saying."

Emiko twiddled her fingers nervously. She was eager to remember, and maybe her memories would be important to defeating Akatsuki. But all the same, Naruto might be right. She wished the Hokage had told them everything. Why wouldn't she? Emiko looked over at Naruto. Maybe that was why. He seemed to care a lot about her, even though he just met her. She wouldn't put it past him to make a big deal if Emiko could get hurt. But she had to be brave. Even if this jutsu killed her, she had to do it. If her memories held information on Akatsuki, they could save many lives.

Emiko sighed. "Maybe. But I couldn't see the Hokage being that dishonest. She seems really nice."

Naruto snorted. "Yeah. I guess." He looked at her. She looked really nervous. For some reason, it bothered him more then it should have. He felt the need to comfort her. Or at least change the subject.

"But, hey, that could be weeks away. We shouldn't worry about that." He smiled at her. "It's around lunch time. How 'bout we go to my absolute favorite place in the village?"

* * *

"MMM!" Emiko said as she tasted her first bite of Ichiraku's ramen. "This is delicious!"

Naruto gave her his dazzling smile that made her heart skip a beat. "Right? This is the best ramen around!"

"So what do you do around here for fun?" Emiko asked.

Naruto smiled. "I can show you some of the nicer scenery around here. I think you'll really like it."

Emiko smiled back as she finished off her ramen. "I'm sure I will."

**Later that day**

Naruto and Emiko left to take a walk on the edge of the forest that surrounded the village.

"C'mon!" Naruto said, running further into the forest. "I wanna show you something!"

Emiko giggled at his enthusiasm as she ran after him. "Naruto-kun, wait up!"

When Naruto finally stopped running, he looked back at her, a huge, dazzling smile on his face. She approached him slowly as the trees dispersed to show a small valley-like area.

She gasped. She had never seen anything like it! Well, not that she could remember anyways.

They were at the bottom of a cliff where a small, quiet waterfall fell from the top of the cliff into a small pond that glimmered in the moonlight. Surrounding the pool were flowers of every color. The sound of crickets filled the back round. The reflection of the moonlight in the pool bounced onto Naruto's face, making his sea blue eyes sparkle even more. It was beautiful.

"Oh my God!This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen!" Emiko said.

Emiko looked around, taking in the beauty of nature. Naruto's face softened at her excitement. He was happy that she was happy.

"How did you find this place?"

Naruto smiled at her. "I used to come here all the time as a kid when-" When he was being chased by the villagers that were trowing rocks at him and calling him a monster. He would hide from them here.

Naruto cleared his throat. "When I got bored." He lied.

Emiko furrowed her brow. This was the first time she'd seen him like this. He was sad. It was written all over his face.

"Naruto-kun? Are you okay?"

He smiled. It almost could've been his dazzling smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yeah. Why?"

He was lying. Something that had to do with this place was haunting him. The fact that he felt the need to lie to her...It made her upset.

"Naruto-kun...what's wrong?"

Naruto was a little surprised she asked again. Usually he would just flash a fake smile and that'd be the end of that. But she saw through him. A girl he hadn't known for two days already knew so much about him that she could see what even his closest friends couldn't.

"I-It's nothing." He said. He was surprised by how much he wanted to tell her how bad his childhood was. He _never _talked about his childhood. Not to Sakura, Kiba, or even Ero-sennin. It was something he didn't like to revisit. No one ever asked him and he had never told them. But he wouldn't even consider telling her. Because then she'd want to know why he was treated so badly. And if he told her, she would just see him as the villagers did then and how half the villagers still do. As a monster.

"No it isn't." Emiko said as she walked closer to Naruto, who averted his gaze. "You can tell me."

He looked back up at her with a stare that was so sad, tortured...angry. It scared her that someone as kind as Naruto could feel such emotions. Just what had happened to him to make such a great person feel so horrible? But she realized she shouldn't push him any farther. If he wanted to tell her, he would've. And he didn't. And she couldn't blame him. He had only known her for 2 days. She shouldn't expect him to open up to her.

Emiko smiled. "You know what? Never mind! I'm sorry I asked you. You don't even know me that well, heck I don't even know me that well, but it was wrong for me to ask you something private like that." She blushed. Dammit, why did she always ramble like that?

He smiled. Her rambling was adorable. And she was decent enough not to push him. Anyone else he knew would've. That just made him want to tell her even more. But he couldn't...he barley knew her...and yet...

"I was...bullied...as a kid. I would come here to hide when they'd start throwing rocks." There. Not technically lying, and still telling her what she wanted to know. But that didn't help him with how much he wanted to tell her the truth. Just to be honest with how bad his life was...just to get it off his chest...the thought of being that close to someone made his heart lift with happiness.

She frowned. He wasn't telling her everything...but it was a start.

Her arm, disobeying her mind that was screaming at her frantically not to do it, reached out and took his hand.

"Naruto-kun...I'm sorry."

His heart skipped a beat at the warmth of her hand. He gripped it tight. Not tight enough to hurt her...just enough to let her know that he didn't want her to let go.

"Thanks," He said so quietly that Emiko wasn't sure if she really heard it.

They stood there, hand in hand, for what seemed like hours. But Emiko would've been fine with standing there for a few more. But she had to ask him...

"Naruto-kun?"

"Hm?" He said, still looking into the pool.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell me what happened?"

He looked at her. Damn, she was perceptive! "I did."

So, no. That's fine. She could wait. She smiled at him. "Okay, Naruto-kun."

After a few more minutes of savoring her touch, he grudgingly pulled his hand away. "We should probably get back to my apartment before it gets too late."

Emiko, trying to not let her disappointment show, nodded and said, "Okay."

* * *

When they got back to Naruto's apartment, she was half expecting him to walk in and say something like, "Mom, Dad, I'm home!" But then she remembered that Sakura told her that he was orphaned since birth. Poor Naruto-kun. He was picked on too. Just how tough was his life?

When he opened the door, she tried not to gasp. How could such a kind, beautiful creature live in such a...mess.

Empty chip bags and old ramen packaging were all over the place and clothes were all over the floor. A thick layer of dust covered all of his shelves. She praised God that it didn't smell as bad as it looked.

"Sorry, it's a little messy." Naruto said nonchalantly.

'A little?' Emiko said in her head. The place was a pigsty. Maybe she'd clean it up a little tomorrow.

He let her to a room that was a little more organized then the rest with a small bed in the middle.

"This is my room, but you can stay in here. I'll sleep on the couch." He said as he started to head out into the living room where she had noticed a couch that was littered with bags that sat in front of a TV. But she grabbed his arm to stop him from getting any farther.

"Oh, no, no, no. You're already being nice enough to spend your money on feeding me and putting a roof over my head. I refuse to take your bed too."

He smiled. She was so sweet. "You sure?"

"As sure as I've ever been" Or at least that she could remember.

He smiled his dazzling smile. "Okay, if you're sure."

"I am." She said as she smiled at him and walked into the living room.

She took all the bags off the couch and put them onto the coffee table that was next to it. She laid down and draped the blanket over her that was previously on the back of the couch.

She sighed as she realized just how tired she really was. Her last thought was 'Naruto-kun...' before she drifted off into sleep.

* * *

**Finally! I am so tired...I've been working on this chapter for a couple of straight hours now...but it's a little longer then the others! I'll get the next chapter out soon. Reviews are welcome! I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Also- it might seem that Naruto and Emiko are moving really fast...I actually didn't mean it to move so fast, but their characters just kinda clicked.**


	4. Flowers

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. I wish I did, but I don't.

Chapter 4 of my first fanfic. Review and enjoy!

Chapter 4

_"Liar! You said as long as I stayed with you, I was safe! I did so many things...terrible things...because you promised me I was safe! You told them, didn't you?"_

Emiko was having a dream. She saw herself in a field. It was surrounded by trees. Her dream self had her feet planted firmly on the ground. There was a discarded Akatsuki cloak on the ground. But what was most shocking...she was watching herself yell at Itachi.

_"I had no choice. You need to think of the greater good. That's all Akatsuki does. We want peace." _Itachi said, his face unreadable.

___"Bullshit! How many people have you killed, Itachi? How is that making peace?"_

Finally, his expression changed. His eyes narrowed. _"Hypocrite. You should be asking yourself that. And just to save your own ass. It's time for you to atone for your sins."_

Emiko saw herself snort. _"Yeah?" _Then she looked sad. _"You lied to me, Itachi. You told me that you would protect me. That you wouldn't tell..." _She saw herself sniff, like she was holding back tears. Then she saw her eyes narrow at him with a hatred that was soul-searing. _"LIAR!"_ she screamed. Then she turned her back.

_"Aka__tsuki wants me? They'll have to catch me first." _Then her dream self ran. _Fast_. Like, ninja fast.

_"Wait! M-"_ Itachi began to yell, when she woke up.

Emiko looked around. What? Where was she? Quietly, she slipped off the couch and walked around. She looked around. Then she remembered. God, she was stupid! How could she forget that perfect day yesterday?

But that dream...

She had known Itachi on a first name basis? Worse...if what Itachi had said is true...had she really killed people?

No. That wouldn't make sense. She would never be able to deal with the guilt. Maybe she didn't know much about her past, but that she was sure about.

But should she tell Hokage-sama? Or Naruto? No. Besides, they'd find out whatever they need to when that Inoichi person comes back from a mission. She just needed to enjoy the time she has with Naruto. Starting with cleaning this apartment.

* * *

Naruto rolled over with a groan. What time was it? He glanced at the clock. It was 11.

He groaned again and forced himself to sit up in bed. Yawning, he left his room and went into the living room.

Emiko had just finished. The whole house was officially clean. She wiped the sweat from her brow and put her hands on her hips proudly. Not a bad job, if she did say so herself. She left the kitchen where she had just finished scrubbing the counter and went into the living room.

What she saw made her heart stop beating.

Naruto was shuffling slowly through...wearing his orange pants. _Just _his orange pants. _Nothing else._

His muscles rippled as he moved his arm to rub his eye. His six pack was firm and smooth. What she would do to rub her hand down them...her face flushed a violent red. But she just couldn't seem to take her eyes off of his abs.

Naruto finally noticed her. He blinked a few times, as if he didn't recognize her right away. Then his eyes widened. "Emiko!" He said.

Then after a few more seconds of standing there, he said, "Gah! I'm sorry!" And he ran back into his room and shut the door.

Emiko let out a steady breath to try and calm herself down. Damn, the man looked like a god. After another steady breath, Naruto came out of his room, but to her dismay, he was fully dressed. Naruto smiled a little and rubbed the back of his head with his hand. She noticed that he did that whenever he was embarrassed.

"Sorry about that. I'm so used to living alone."

Emiko tried to smile back while trying _not _to imagine him naked. "It's fine." Then she gestured to the rest of the house. "What do you think?"

Naruto looked around like he was just noticing that his house was completely clean.

"Hey! You cleaned!" He said, smiling.

Emiko resisted the urge to burst out laughing. Of course it was clean, dummy! Did he really just notice that?

"Yep!" She said as he began inspecting the living room.

"Hey! You can see the floor!"

Emiko giggled and Naruto's heart fluttered. God, the girl laughed like an angel.

Just then, there was a knock on Naruto's door.

Naruto walked and opened it. Emiko recognized the spikey haired boy as Shikamaru.

"Yo, Naruto, t-" he stopped as he saw the inside of Naruto's house.

"You can see the floor!" The boy exclaimed. Emiko and Naruto laughed.

"Yeah, Emiko cleaned the whole house."

"I'll bet that was a drag." Shikamaru said. "Anyways, the Hokage wanted to talk to you."

"Okay." Naruto said as he turned to get Emiko, when Shikamaru grabbed his arm.

"Alone." Shikamaru said.

Naruto furrowed his brow, but turned to Emiko.

"I'll be gone for a little while, you can explore the village if you wanna, but try not to get lost."

Emiko looked confused, but nodded. "I'll see you later, Naruto-kun." Although it pained her to say bye...she hadn't left his side for a day straight and was loving every moment of it.

Naruto smiled. "Bye." He said, and closed the door. He and Shikamaru started walking.

"Hey, Naruto.."

"Yeah?"

"Is there something going on between you and Emiko?"

Naruto felt his face flush. He wished. But was it that obvious that even Shikamaru could see it?

"No. Why would you say that?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Well, you guys haven't known each other for 3 days, and you seem like you can talk to her like you've known her for years. Plus you seemed sad to leave her."

Naruto puffed up defensively. "No. I was just worried she'd get lost if she wondered around."

Shikamaru shrugged again. "Whatever."

* * *

Emiko watched Shikamaru and Naruto leave. What now?

She sighed. She decided she'd go walking around in the village. With Naruto gone, there was nothing else she could do.

She walked into the bathroom and put her long hair into a high ponytail, while a few shorter strands fell on either side of her face. She slipped her fingerless gloves on, and walked out the door.

She walked out and began to walk around. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky.

After she got to the point where she knew she wouldn't know where she was going or how to get back, she saw a shop that sold the things that would make Naruto's house perfect. She knew it had been missing something, but she just couldn't put her finger on what, until she saw the shop.

Flowers!

Just a little vase on the kitchen table, it would be perfect! And give a nice smell to the house. She checked her pockets for money. She sighed with relief. She had almost forgotten that Naruto had given her money the other day. She hurried into the flower shop.

Ino sat at the desk at her family's flower shop, flipping through a magazine. Wednesdays were always their slowest day.

The bell in the front of the shop rang. Ino looked up.

The girl standing there was stunning. Her spikey black hair was pulled into a ponytail, but had little side bangs on either side of her face. She was pale, but not in a sickly way. It a way that made her look like a porcelain doll. Her black eyes landed on Ino and she smiled politely. The girl was around Ino's age, but she didn't recognize her. But that didn't make sense. Ino knew _everyone _their age in the village. Then she realized that this must be the girl Sakura told her about. Wow, Sakura wasn't kidding. The girl, who Sakura told her was going by Emiko, sure was blessed. Ino smiled politely at her.

"Hi! I'm Ino. You must be Emiko."

Emiko was a little surprised that the blonde girl had known who she was. Word of Emiko must be spreading. Emiko smiled back. "Yep, that's me."

"It's nice to finally meet you. Sakura was telling me about you." Ino said, walking out from behind the counter.

So that's how she knew her name.

"Anyways, were you looking for flowers for a specific occasion?" Then her grin turned mischievous. "Or are they for Naruto?"

Emiko felt her face heat up. How did this girl know? Emiko hadn't known the girl for 5 minutes and she could see through her like she was made of plastic wrap!

"W-Why would you think that?" Emiko gave a nervous laugh. This girl seemed like a gossiper. If she found out that she liked Naruto...what if she told him? Emiko's life would be over.

Ino raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Uh-huh. So what are they for?"

"They're for Naruto's house."

Ino's grin got wider.

"But they're for my enjoyment, not his! I-I just like flowers."

"Oh, we-" Ino stopped and her eyes got wide. "Wait...you're living with Naruto?"

Emiko's face flushed again. Sakura hadn't told...?

"Well, yeah, but just until I remember where I'm from."

Ino grinned. "And there's _nothing _going on between you two?"

"Of course not! Why would you think that?"

"Well your face turns beet red whenever I say anything about him."

Damn. Ino sure spoke her mind. Then Emiko got an idea. She could fight fire with fire. But she had only met two guys from the village...chances are she didn't like either. But that was a risk she was willing to take.

"What about that Shikamaru? He's cute."

Ino's smile faded and she flushed bright red.

Emiko had to resist the urge to yell 'HA!' to Ino. Then to Emiko's surprise, Ino smiled a little. "Ah. You're good. I've never meet someone who can best me before. I'm impressed."

Emiko smiled. Maybe she could be friends with this girl.

"But you _do _like Naruto, right?"

Emiko flushed and twiddled her fingers. "W-Well, I guess...but, I mean, I don't have a chance with him, I-I mean, the guy looks like a god, and he's so nice and he seems so strong and stuff...and I'm just...Emiko. No, actually I'm not even Emiko. I don't even know who I am."

Ino tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, he is pretty hot now..."

Is that all Ino got from her rant?

Ino smiled a little. "But you should've seen him before. He was so annoying!"

"Really?" Emiko couldn't imagine.

"Yep. But don't worry. You're secret is relatively safe with me." For some reason that didn't comfort Emiko.

Ino saw her face and laughed. "Well, I won't tell Naruto, if that makes you feel better. But, I must warn you. Naruto is an idiot. He won't have any idea that you like him unless you come right out and say it. Plus there's this other girl in the village, Hinata, who liked him since we were, like, 12, but she's too shy to make a move. But I'm getting off topic. I just happen to know Naruto's favorite flower."

That poor Hinata. Emiko could relate to being nervous around someone like Naruto. Would Hinata be mad at Emiko for liking Naruto? Or was Emiko being silly thinking about that, when she hadn't even meet this Hinata?

Ino let her towards the back of the shop. She picked a bright red flower that had almost a sparkley appearance from a pot.

"The Amaryllis. Pretty, huh? The name means 'to sparkle.'"

"They're perfect!" Anything that Naruto liked was perfect. Ino smiled.

"Alrighty then! I'll go ahead and ring you up." She said as she took several of the flowers from the pot and put them into a bouquet for Emiko.

After paying Emiko returned to Naruto's to put the flowers where they belonged.

The flowers looked stunning in the tall vase in the middle of the kitchen table. The flowers' sparkles seemed to bounce off the walls.

Emiko smiled once more at the flowers and began to rummage through the cabinets to fix herself lunch.

She wondered what Hokage-sama wanted with Naruto and why he wasn't back yet...

* * *

Ah! Finally done. Tell me what you think by reviewing!

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.


	5. Jealousy

Fifth chapter of my first fanfic! This took longer then I had originally hoped...oh well!

Please review and enjoy!

Chapter 5

Naruto and Shikamaru entered the Hokage's office. Shikamaru bowed, then left.

"What's going on Baa-chan?"

Tsunade sighed. "Naruto...I haven't been entirely honest with you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. So he was right. She _was _not saying something.

"About Emiko, I suppose."

Tsunade sighed again. The boy really was brighter then he acted. He had seen right through her.

"Yes."

"And Inoichi's jutsu?"

She glared up at him. "Yes."

They stared at each other for a minute, before Naruto broke the silence. "And?"

Tsunade sighed again. "The jutsu...is extremely dangerous."

Naruto tensed. That was what he was afraid of.

"The body's natural defense against this type of jutsu is to resist with all the might the person has. But of course, the user of the jutsu has the upper hand and can easily overpower the persons mind." She paused to make sure Naruto had understood everything she had told him. He looked like he did, so she continued. "However, the person's mind will either do one of two things after being overpowered. It will either allow the person inside their mind or...self-destruct in order to preserve the thoughts of a person."

Naruto's eyes widened. "How can we stop that from happening?"

"It most often happens with weaker minds. Children, elderly, or the wounded. The minds that can't really process what is happening. There is no way we can stop it from happening, but there is a fairly good chance it won't."

Naruto gritted his teeth. How could she be so cold? This was Emiko's mind they were talking about! "I don't like this, granny."

She sighed. "I knew you wouldn't, I don't like it either and I wish there was another way. But I felt like you should know." She paused. God, he wasn't happy. But he knew too...he knew it was the only way.

"Can't we...can't we wait, Baa-chan? Can't she recover her memories by herself?"

Tsunade sighed impatiently. "She might have information on Akatsuki. We need all the information we can get, as soon as we can get it. I received word that Inoichi should be back in the village in 4-5 days. When he gets back, we will preform the jutsu immediately."

"Baa-chan, please, just let me-"

"Naruto! The answer is no! I've told you what is going to happen, and that's all there is to it." He glared at her and she matched his glare evenly.

"And I would appreciate it if you didn't tell Emiko about this."

Naruto clenched his fists. "Fine. But I want to be there when you do this."

She sighed. Of course he did. But she knew she had to let him or he'd throw a fit. She was surprised he hadn't already. "Fine. That is all."

Naruto nodded and stormed out of her office and headed home. He needed to calm down...he needed to see Emiko.

* * *

Emiko sighed. Was ramen all he ate? Well it was certainly all that was in his cabinets. Sighing, she pulled out a package of pork ramen and began to boil it, when she heard the front door slam. She walked towards the front door.

Naruto stormed into his house. Damn it! Why was he so upset over this? He really shouldn't be. Even if this _did _kill her (the thought made him shudder) it would be for the sake of all the ninja villages. He knew that was what was most important. Plus he had only known Emiko for a few days. She shouldn't be this important to him. But there was no doubt that she was.

Then he saw her standing by the kitchen. His face softened instantly.

Her brow was furrowed in an adorable way and her hair was back in a ponytail much like when he first found her. Just looking at her made his mood better instantly. It was like he couldn't be mad or sad around her. He was only ever happy with her...and she could be dead in a few days.

"Naruto-kun? Are you alright?" She asked.

He couldn't help but smile at her soft voice. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said, and walked into the kitchen, where he stopped and saw a vase full of amaryllis flowers. How did she know they were his favorite?

Emiko saw that he was looking at the flowers and smiled. "They're your favorite, right?"

He looked up at her with his dazzling smile. "Yeah. How'd you know."

Emiko smirked. "I went to Ino's flower shop."

"Oh God. Don't listen to anything that girl tells you." Naruto said, laughing a little.

Emiko laughed her silky laugh. "So what did Hokage-sama want?"

Naruto's smile faded and he looked away, but not before she saw his tortured expression.

"Naruto-kun? Are you okay?" Emiko said, immediately concerned.

"U-Um, yeah. It's just...well, she said..." Naruto said, fumbling with words.

Emiko realized that he wanted to tell her, but was told not to. She smiled, but secretly wished he cared enough about her to tell her no matter who told him not to. "It's fine. I mean, I'm not a member of the village, so it's probably confidential or something."

He smiled. The girl was so understanding. She was okay with him not telling her everything. God, and he had actually thought he had been in love with Sakura. She was a great girl and all, don't get him wrong. But...he just didn't love her. Because...she wasn't Emiko.

* * *

The past four days had been the best of Emiko's life. That she could remember anyways.

Every day had been 24 hours of Naruto. They ate together, talked together, laughed together...she felt like she had known him for years...she couldn't imagine her life without him anymore. He was like her other half...if he was gone, she didn't know how she'd keep living. She knew it sounded silly...she had only known the guy for a little over a week.

They were walking down a Konoha street, while Emiko was teasing him about how groggy he was in the morning. That particular morning, like every morning, he didn't recognize her at first. But this morning, he accused her of breaking into his house to steal all his ramen. But once he heard her silky laugh when she burst out laughing, he immediately remembered her.

"I mean, really, Naruto. It was nearly noon! And who in their right mind would just break into someone's house with the sole purpose of stealing ramen?" She said teasingly.

He grumbled playfully. "What was I supposed to think? You were rummaging through my ramen drawer!"

They both laughed at the fact that Naruto even _had _a 'ramen drawer'.

Sakura heard Naruto laughing from around the corner. Finally! She had been looking for that baka all day! She looked at the clock. It was 1. She snorted. He probably just woke up. Ugh, she was gonna punch him out for making her look all over town for him! That was, until, she heard beautiful ringing laughter accompanying his. Sakura peeked around the corner.

Naruto and Emiko were walking down the street. They were standing so close that their hands were brushing against the others with each step. Emiko's long hair was tied back. For some reason, Sakura would've liked nothing more at that moment then to grab that ponytail as hard as she could. That'd wipe the smile off her face.

Sakura straightened, shooing the thought from her mind. Emiko hadn't done anything to her! Sakura was shocked at herself for being so violent. Clearing her throat, she went and approached them.

Naruto caught sight of Sakura first. She seemed a little annoyed, she had probably been looking for him for a while, which also meant that she was probably going to smack him for making her search. But she didn't. She just walked up to them with the fakest smile he had ever seen on her lips.

"Oi, Sakura-chan." He said smiling at her.

"Oh, Sakura! Hi, how are you?" Emiko said, smiling.

"Fine, thanks." Sakura said without making eye contact with Emiko. She returned her attention to Naruto. "Tsunade-sama wanted me to get you and Emiko. Inoichi has returned to the village and is ready to preform the jutsu."

Naruto's smile evaporated and he stiffened. How could he have forgotten? These past days had been the best of his life. Suddenly the thought of Emiko not being in the world made his heart ache more then it had before. Now it was to the point of such pain that he wanted to collapse.

Naruto's expression reignited Sakura's fury. How could he possibly care so much about her? He hadn't known her for nearly as long as he had known Sakura! And yet...he cared so much for her...probably more then he even cared about Sakura. The thought punched a hole through Sakura's chest.

"Well? Let's get going." Sakura snapped and turned to lead them where Tsunade had said the jutsu was to be preformed.

Naruto took a deep breath and looked over to Emiko who hadn't moved from his side. Her eyes were full of concern. God, she was so sweet. He looked down at their hands that were less then a centimeter apart from each other. Would it be wrong to take her hand? To get a touch that he had longed for since he felt it the first time?

As if answering his question, Emiko's hand moved and took his in hers. His whole body rejoiced at the contact, and it was all he could do not to jump for joy right there. He smiled reassuringly at her, and they began to walk hand in hand. They followed Sakura who had already gotten a good distance ahead of them.

By the time they had caught up with Sakura, who was walking so fast it had bordered on jogging, they were already at a room in the Hokage tower. Naruto gave her hand a gentle squeeze before releasing it and moving to open the door for them. Sakura began to walk away.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, you're not staying?"

Sakura couldn't bring herself to turn around. "Why would I? I'll see you later, Naruto." She said before walking away.

Emiko took a deep breath and looked up at Naruto. "You ready?" He asked, looking more nervous then she did. She wondered why.

Taking another deep breath, she looked back at his sea blue eyes that overflowed with compassion.

"Yes, I'm ready."

Naruto gave her a fake reassuring smile and opened the door...

* * *

Hooray! Okay I finally got through with this chapter. Took me some time to get motivated writing this chapter. It was mostly fluff.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!


	6. Dumplings

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters!

Also, I'm not entirely sure how the Yamanaka family jutsu works, so I just kinda made it up...oh well! :D please review and enjoy!

Chapter 6

Emiko and Naruto walked into the interrogation room.

Emiko looked around. The room was pretty dark, with just a few candles allowing her to just be able to see the room. It was cold. She shivered. Towards the middle of the room, there was a chair made of stone. Standing around it were 3 ANBU, Tsunade, and a man who bore remarkable resemblance to Ino. Emiko figured he was Inoichi.

"Emiko." Tsunade said. She gestured to the chair. "Please take a seat."

Emiko took a breath and walked with Naruto to the seat, where she slowly sat down, and Naruto went to stand by the Hokage.

Tsunade turned her attention to Inoichi. "Whenever you're ready." She told him.

Inoichi nodded and turned his attention to Emiko. "This won't hurt a bit." He said. Somehow that didn't make her feel better.

He walked a few feet behind her, and said, "Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

Then Inoichi and Emiko's bodies went limp.

'Here we go...' Tsunade thought.

* * *

Inoichi took a deep breath. He was in.

He took a look around. The girls mind didn't look any different from anyone else's. He was in a hallway with doors on either end.

'I guess I'd better start looking around.' He thought.

As he approached one of the doors, he was a little surprised at what he found.

Not only was the door locked, but the lock was large and intricate. The kinds of which he had only ever seen in some of the strongest minds he'd ever been in. And in a girl this young too...

'She must've been one hell of a genjutsu user to have this strong of a mind' Inoichi thought. But he'd seen stuff like this before. He could overpower her, he was sure of it. He had never been overpowered by another mind before.

He took a deep breath, preformed several hand signs, and placed both hands on the lock, willing it with his mind to open. And then...

...Nothing.

Inoichi took a step back, surprised. 'I guess I'll have to try a little harder.' He thought.

He preformed the hand signs again, and put both hands on the lock. It didn't feel like it was going to budge, so Inoichi put even more effort into it, pouring his chakra into it. The lock creaked, but stayed firm.

'Damn!' Inoichi muttered through his teeth. He hadn't had memories this hard to unlock since he had to rummage through that Uchiha ANBU's mind to see if they were planning an uprising. He was going to have to give this one his all, he could see that now.

Putting all his chakra into it, he placed his hands on the lock once again. Sweat was dripping from his brow and he was panting, but he refused to let go this time. In one mighty push, he put every last bit of his chakra into the lock. The lock jolted and shuttered, and then...

...it didn't open.

Instead, the chakra was pushed back at Inoichi at such a force that it sent him flying down the hallway at an incredible speed. He slammed into the door on the other side of the hallway with such unbelievable force, that it actually made Inoichi release his jutsu.

He felt himself slipping back to his body.

'I...I failed?' He thought. 'Tsunade-sama...forgive me...' was his last thought as he slipped back to his body.

* * *

Naruto watched anxiously as Inoichi and Emiko's bodies went limp.

The room was completely silent. Tsunade's eyes darted from Emiko's body to Inoichi's body. Naruto couldn't tell, but he figured the masked ANBU were doing the same.

After a few minutes, Naruto let out an aggravated sigh. Tsunade twitched. 'Keep calm, Tsunade' she told herself. 'You had to let him come, if you didn't...well he probably would've came anyways.'

Naruto put his hands behind his head in his signature bored gesture. "Yo, Baa-chan, how long is this gonna take?" he said.

Tsunade glanced at him. Though his words and tone sounded nonchalant enough, it didn't quite reach his eyes. They were big, blue pools of compassion and worry. Tsunade's anger melted away instantly. The poor kid. He cares so much about a girl he just met...and one day, she was sure it would come back to bite him in the ass. But you couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Knowing what his real question was, Tsunade said, "She's fine, Naruto. If her mind _had _self-destructed, trust me, we would know."

Part of Naruto wanted to ask her just how they would know, but the other part of him didn't want to know. So he stayed silent.

After a few more minutes, which seemed like hours because Naruto kept sighing and tapping his foot and other things that others probably thought he was doing because he was bored, but Tsunade recognized them as nervous habits. Jiraiya had always been the same way. It was all Tsunade could do not to loose her temper and smack the kid across the room.

Right when Tsunade was about to loose it, Inoichi's body was thrown against the wall, and he awoke with a gasp.

"Inoichi!" Tsunade said, rushing to where he was thrown.

He was sweating and breathing heavily. Blood was trickling from his mouth from being thrown so hard.

Tsunade knelt next to him and began to use her healing jutsu to see how badly he was injured.

He was completely depleted of chakra and had a few broken bones in his arm which had broken his fall...or throw rather.

"Inoichi...what happened?" Tsunade said, shocked. Inoichi had never been expelled from someone's mind so violently...or at all for that matter. He had even managed to get the memories of that Uchiha ANBU member.

It took him a second to catch his breath before he could answer. "I-I've never...seen anything like this...this girl..."

He looked up at Tsunade. "Whoever...the hell she is, she must be one...of the best damn genjutsu users out there. Better...then Kurenai." He finished.

Tsunade grimaced. Damn. That's what she was afraid of...she knew the girl had to be something special in order to even know who Itachi was.

Emiko slowly opened her eyes and blinked. Where was she? She looked around and her eyes fell on Naruto who was by Tsunade and the ANBU members that were huddled by something that she couldn't see. Naruto was the only one who's eyes were on her.

That's right...she remembered now. The jutsu...had it worked? If it had, shouldn't she remember everything...?

Then Naruto's expression registered with her...but was it worry...? Or...was it fear in those blue eyes?

Naruto watched Emiko as she looked around. He had never before really cared about who she had been. He just cared about her for who she is now. But...now...now he wanted to know.

Emiko tried to rise out of the chair, but was surprised at by how jelly-like her legs were. She probably would've fallen if Naruto hadn't came and caught her.

Naruto felt the warmth of her body and totally stopped caring about who she was. Why couldn't she just...stay here? Why did they need to know who she was? Really, the girl was just 16. How much important info could she have? In a way, Naruto was relieved that the jutsu hadn't worked...because in the back of his mind he knew that either outcome, it would mean saying good-bye to Emiko. Either she would've died, the thought still made Naruto's heart skip a beat, or she would want to go back to where she belonged. But this way...he still had her for a little while longer.

Emiko slowly looked up at Naruto's eyes. There was a longing there...a longing that made energy immediately return to her limbs and made her blush badly.

She straightened. "G-Gomen" She said quietly.

As she pulled out of his arms, he wanted nothing more then to pull her back and never let her go. But, with much reluctance, he released her.

They walked slowly towards Tsunade, the ANBU, and Inoichi, who was still on the ground panting.

"What happened?" Emiko said. Seeing a ninja who emitted such a powerful aura like Inoichi defeated on the ground startled her.

Inoichi glared at her but didn't respond.

Instead, Tsunade sighed, and said, "We had no idea...that your mind would be so powerful. To put it shortly, even with Inoichi's upper hand, he was not able to penetrate your thoughts."

Emiko gasped. Just...just who was she? Honestly, she had an idea that she might've been a ninja...the way she talked to Itachi so rudely in her dream gave her that idea. But this...her mind had over powered Inoichi's! _And _he had the upper hand! Now she wanted to know who she was all the more.

Tsunade sighed and turned her attention to the ANBU.

"Take Inoichi into the hospital. He needs time to recover his chakra."

They nodded and said, "Hai!" and took Inoichi out of the room swiftly.

Tsunade looked at Naruto and Emiko. Damn. What should she do now? What would the Fourth do? She'd have to think about it.

"You two can go about your business. I need time to think."

Naruto nodded and directed Emiko out of the room.

Tsunade grimaced...she had no idea what to do next...

* * *

"You feel okay?" Naruto asked.

Actually, she was a little hungry...the jutsu had taken a lot out of her...but she didn't want to say anything. After all, she had lunch right before they went to do the jutsu. She didn't want to seem like a pig. Plus, she didn't like having to spend Naruto's money.

So instead, she just smiled and said, "Yep, I feel great!"

Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but much to Emiko's mortification, her stomach growled so loudly that a few passing people glanced at her.

Emiko's face flushed a bright red. How embarrassing! But Naruto just smiled.

"You read my mind!" He said.

God, how had she managed to meet such a wonderful creature?

* * *

Emiko finished the last of her dumplings. The food in Konoha was absolutely fantastic.

"Well, Naruto. That's it." She said, crossing her arms seriously.

"Hm?" He said, the dumpling stick still hanging from his mouth as he looked at her, confused.

"The food in Konoha is officially the best in the world." Not that she would know, but she knew how happy it made him when she complemented the village.

He beamed, just like she knew he would. "Isn't it?"

Naruto paid, and they continued on their way.

Suddenly, Emiko started to feel guilty about not telling Naruto about her dreams. He should know...she shouldn't keep this stuff to herself.

She sighed. "Naruto..."

"Yeah?" He said, cheerfully. He looked down at her and saw she was being serious. "What's wrong?"

"Nothings wrong, I just...have something to tell you."

Naruto felt his face flush. Was this it? Did she really like him? Was she going to confess her love? His heart fluttered in anticipation.

"It's about who I am."

Even though he knew this was more important, he couldn't help feeling so disappointed that he had to suppress a moan. Of course she didn't feel that way. He was being silly.

After Emiko told him her dream, they were both silent. Emiko wondered if she had made a mistake in telling him. Was he mad at her for not telling him right away?

"Why didn't you say anything?" He said.

Damn, he was mad, wasn't he?

"I-I thought you would find out anything you needed today...Naruto-kun...I'm so sorry!"

When she finally worked up the nerve to look up at him, he looked confused.

"Well, don't apologize, I would've done the same thing." He said simply.

Emiko's smile returned. He was just amazing.

Naruto stopped. He had been so engrossed in their conversation, that he didn't even notice that he had walked right past his house, and right into the valley with the waterfall. How could he have possibly missed that? Maybe because it was already dark...or maybe because he couldn't take his eyes off Emiko.

Suddenly, Naruto's memories came flooding back to him along with the familiar urge to tell Emiko his childhood. And why shouldn't he? She had told him something, something that she didn't know how he would react to, but she told him anyways. Sure, this was a little bit more of a big deal, but wasn't the general idea the same?

"Emiko..."

The silky way he said her name made her shiver.

"Emiko." He repeated. "There's something I want to tell you."

* * *

Hooray! So I finally got this chapter done. Took longer then I had anticipated...oh well. I was gonna end the chapter when they were done with the jutsu and stuff, but that would've been too short. So I went into what would've been part of the next chapter, but I though it flowed rather nicely.

Let me know what you think by reviewing! Thanks, hope you liked it!


	7. Makeover

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters!

Chapter 7 of my first fanfic! Please review and enjoy!

Chapter 7

"What is it?" Emiko said, looking up at Naruto.

"You...you know when I told you how I was bullied as a kid..." Naruto said slowly.

"Yeah?" She said eagerly.

"I was bullied...by the villagers here. The adults."

Emiko gasped. "W-What?"

"I never understood why. They would just chase me and call me a monster."

Emiko felt her eyes well up at the far away look in Naruto's eyes. "But...but then why would you want to be the Hokage of a village that was so cruel to you?"

Naruto smiled a little. "Once, when they were chasing me, I had told them that they were wrong and one day I'd prove to them just how great I was. One day I'd be the Hokage and they'd all have to listen to me."

"And...and you forgave them for their cruelty?" Emiko said, angrily. The thought of a little Naruto hiding from the villagers, sobbing, made her furious at the villagers.

"Well, yeah. They don't do that type of stuff anymore. Most of them respect me now." He said looking down at her.

Emiko's heart warmed. How could he be so kind to these monsters? She didn't get it. She knew she'd never be able to. She would resent them forever. But the fact that Naruto was so kind made her love him even more. She looked back at his eyes. There was a sadness to them, but at the same time, she could tell he was telling the truth about forgiving them and yet...she could tell it still haunted him.

Relieved that he told her the truth, her body moved on its own and embraced him in a hug.

Electricity shot through Naruto as Emiko's arms wrapped around him. The warmth of her body against him made him forget about his memories. All that mattered now was her.

Emiko blushed horribly as she realized what she had just done. She _hugged Naruto! _Just as she was about to pull away and apologize, Naruto wrapped his arms around her gently. The warmth of his touch made her shiver. Emiko relaxed and slowly lowered her head to rest on his rock hard chest, waiting to see if he protested. He didn't.

"Naruto-kun...I'm sorry that happened to you." Emiko said.

Naruto sighed in response. He just wanted to savor holding Emiko in his arms. That was all he needed to heal the wounds of his heart. It was amazing to him that memories that have haunted his dreams for years could be erased by the simple touch of this girl. And it was at that moment that Naruto realized that no matter what happened, he wouldn't be able to live his life without her.

* * *

Emiko was so lost in Naruto's touch she hadn't realized that she had fallen asleep. She slowly woke up and realized, to her mortification, that Naruto was cradling her and walking back to the apartment.

Emiko tried to quickly get out of Naruto's arms, and was surprised by how weak and tired her body was.

"Just relax. We'll be at the apartment soon." Naruto said, hoping she wouldn't protest. He liked the feeling of holding her too much.

Emiko's tiredness got the best of her as she sighed and relaxed and enjoyed the feeling of Naruto's muscular arms carrying her back to the apartment.

* * *

Emiko woke up in the morning surprisingly comfortable. Not that Naruto's couch was uncomfortable, it was just that it wasn't as comfortable as a bed. It wasn't until she rolled over to get up that she realized that she was, in fact, in a bed. _Naruto's _bed. Realizing that he must've put her in his bed and he slept on the couch, she didn't get up right away. Instead, she buried her head in the pillow and took a deep breath. Ah, the smell of Naruto.

She finally managed to pull herself away from his pillow and got out of bed, walking into the living room.

Naruto was sprawled out on the couch in a tee shirt and shorts. He was breathing rhythmically, softly. He had clearly put the blanket on himself before he went to sleep, but he moved around so much in his sleep that it now covered only his right foot. The rest of the blanket was on the floor.

Naruto shivered lightly. Emiko realized that he must be cold, after all it was pretty chilly this fall, plus he didn't have a blanket on.

Sneaking over to his bed quietly, she picked up the blanket off the floor and began slowly draping it over him, taking a second to pause and admire his abs that were visible underneath his half-rolled up tee. She then continued and gently placed the edge of the blanket in line with his neck. She looked up for one last look at his dreamy face, when...

...he was awake...

His blue eyes were looking at her. His face was mere inches from his. Emiko froze.

They sat there, staring at each other for what seemed like days, before Emiko leaped backwards.

"N-Naruto-kun, I-I'm sorry! You just looked cold, ya know, because it's fall, n'stuff, but I didn't mean to intrude in your personal space or anything, you just looked cold..." She said blushing and cursing herself silently for rambling. Again.

Naruto had to physically grab onto the couch to stop himself fro jumping to her and pulling her back onto him. Why couldn't he have just pretended to be asleep and enjoyed it?

"It's fine, it was..." Sexy? "thoughtful." Naruto decided that calling her sexy would ruin any chance he had with her.

But Emiko hadn't missed the pause in his sentence. He was probably going to say creepy. Damn it!

"Anyways, I'm sorry for waking you up..." She said.

"Nah, it's fine. I would've woken up soon anyways..." He said sitting up and stretching.

Emiko suppressed the urge to snort. Yeah, sure he would've.

Naruto rose from the couch and gave her his dazzling smile. "So whatcha wanna do today?"

* * *

"I'm telling you, guys, Emiko likes Naruto!" Ino said as she, Sakura, Tenten and Hinata all walked down the Konoha streets.

Of course, Sakura and Hinata were horrified by this situation, and refused to believe it.

"A-Are you sure, Ino? I-I mean, why would y-you think that?" Hinata said, twiddling her fingers.

"I got it from Emiko herself."

"Huh. I've only seen the girl a few times, but...she seems way out of his league. Why would she go for him?" Tenten said.

Ino shrugged. "Yeah, I don't really see it either. It's probably some temporary thing. She probably just likes him because he's so nice."

"Oh, yeah, because that doesn't matter when choosing a guy." Tenten said sarcastically.

Ignoring her, Ino continued. "She'll get over it and go after a more...angst-y guy. Like Neji. He's the closest thing we've got to angst around here since Sasuke left."

Sakura shook her head sadly. "You've never seen them together, have you?" She said quietly.

All the girls turned their heads to Sakura, curious to why she sounded so sad.

"They talk like they've known each other for years. Once they both tell each other that they like each other, that'll be that. You can tell just by looking at them." And deep in her heart, Sakura knew she needed to accept that. She turned Naruto down one too many times. He had moved on, and so should she.

Ino shrugged. "I guess." She said. "But still, I think she should try her luck with another guy."

Sakura sighed at Ino droned on about the poor guy selection in the village.

* * *

Naruto and Emiko walked down the street, when Emiko pointed to a side road that she hadn't been down before.

"What's over there? We never go that way."

A sad look passed over Naruto's face. "The Uchiha house."

Emiko looked up at Naruto's far away look. He had told her about Sasuke and how he had left. The poor guy had been through so much.

Then, on their own accord, her legs began to take her over to the residence. Naruto began to follow her.

Emiko was struck with sadness as she saw all the empty houses, all the empty streets where she could imagine all the children used to play.

Emiko stopped when she noticed a house that was slightly bigger then all the others. It seemed vaguely familiar.

Naruto looked at Emiko as she stopped. It was strange that she choose Sasuke's old house to stop at.

Emiko turned to look back at Naruto. He looked so sad...it was then that she realized how rude it was for her to bring him here. All those sad memories...and she just _had _to come here.

Emiko tried to smile at him. "Sorry, I was just curious to see what it would look like. We can go back now." She said, and began to head back for the village. Naruto turned and followed her.

Almost immediately as they got back to the main part of the village, someone yelled, "Yo, Naruto!"

Naruto and Emiko turned around to see Kiba running at them.

"Hey, Kiba, whats up?" Naruto said.

"Oh, hi Kiba!" Emiko said.

Kiba smiled at Emiko and said, "Hey." Before he turned his attention to Naruto. He cleared his throat. "I, um, need to talk to you. Alone." He said, and gave Emiko a strange look.

"Um, okay..." Naruto said and looked at Emiko. "I'll catch ya later. Don't get lost!" Naruto said, poking fun at how she had gotten lost in the village a few days ago.

"Haha." Emiko said sarcastically. "I'll see you guys later." She said as she walked away.

Emiko was walking down the street as she was grabbed on the shoulder tightly. Emiko's instincts kicked in and she whipped the persons hand off her shoulder and turned around quickly, prepared to fight.

"Ino?" Emiko said, instantly relaxing.

"Owwwww you hurt my wrist!" Ino said, cradling her hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry! You just scared me."

"Oh, come on! Who would be trying to mug you in the middle of this crowd!" Ino snapped.

Tenten, who was the only girl who was still with Ino, rolled her eyes. "It's called reflexes. Most anyone would've done the same thing." Then Tenten turned to Emiko and smiled. "Hi, I'm Tenten." She said politely. Emiko remembered Naruto telling her about a Tenten. The weapons master.

Ino huffed. "Well, it hurt. But that's beside the point."

"What's the point?" Emiko said.

Ino's scowl transformed into a mischievous grin that Emiko was starting to hate. "Have you told Naruto that you like him yet?"

Emiko blushed. And Tenten didn't react to this, which meant Ino already told her! Damn. She knew this girl was a gossiper.

"Well, no, I mean, he doesn't like me or anything so, well, why would I?"

Ino snorted. "Honey, he'd be lucky to have you. Frankly, you're way out of his league, you could do better."

That pissed Emiko off a surprising amount. To her, _no one _was better then Naruto.

"But whatever, I guess it's your choice. But you have to let him know you like him, otherwise he'll think that you don't like him, and he won't go after you! Trust me, with a guy like him, you have to let him know. Besides, there's no way he could turn you down."

"So...you think I-I should tell him?"

"Absolutely!" Ino and Tenten said simultaneously.

The very thought made her knees go weak. "I-I don't think I can..."

"Ah. I see what we need here. A little confidence booster." Ino said, casting looks over to Tenten, who's face now bore a remarkable resemblance to Ino's mischievous grin.

"I couldn't agree more." Tenten said.

Emiko's instincts were telling her to turn and run.

"It's time for a makeover!" Ino said jumping into the air.

* * *

Yeah, I'd be scared of Ino and Tenten too.

Anywho, hope you liked it! Please review!


	8. Hinata

Hey! So again I don't own Naruto or any of the characters, but before we start I'd like to talk about something. So I got a review on my last chapter that I feel I should address in case anyone else was thinking the same thing.

GenoBeast  
2010-08-06 . chapter 6

He is going to reveal his secret and Emiko will remember more things...also Inoichi seemed like a idiot cause he glared at the girl who beat him when he had home field advantage. Also I found it odd that they took her to a interrogation room...I get the need for ANBU but did they really think the room was necessary.

Okay so Inoichi was kinda supposed to seem like that...he's a sore loser. And I understood what this person meant about the interrogation room, so if you'll look back to that chapter, I changed it.

* * *

Chapter 8

"Don't they have these in a bigger size?" Emiko wheezed. She was by no means fat, in fact, she was pretty skinny. But she was pretty sure these shorts were originally made for a monkey.

"Well, yeah, but these small ones make your butt look great!" Ino said and Tenten nodded in agreement.

Ino and Tenten had insisted that they took Emiko shopping and got her a new, "sexy" outfit to help her get the guts to tell Naruto she liked him. Emiko failed to see how her not being able to breathe would help her at all when she talked to Naruto. In fact, as far as she could tell, it just made the matter worse.

Emiko turned away from the mirror in the dressing room of the store so she could look at Ino and Tenten. "But I can't breathe!"

"Pain is beauty." Ino said matter-of-factly.

Lucky for Emiko, Tenten sighed and said, "If she can't breathe, that's not going to help her at all if she's nervous."

Ino crossed her arms and huffed. "Fine. I guess we could get you a little skirt or something..."

Emiko sighed with relief. Or at least, it was sort of a sigh...it was the best she could do while she could barley breathe.

"Oh, what about this?" Tenten said excitedly, holding up a short, black, lacy, and most importantly to Emiko, loose skirt. Sure, it was a little shorter then she was comfortable with, but anything was better then the vacuum-sealed shorts.

"That's perfect!" Ino said, beaming. "And it would go great with this!" Ino said, holding up a small, low cut halter top shirt that was a deep purple, similar to the color of her usual outfit. "It shows just enough cleavage to be sexy, but not sleazy."

Tenten nodded with approval. "This is perfect. Go try them on." Tenten said, throwing the clothes at Emiko and shooing her back into the dressing room. Once Emiko came back out, both of the girls jaws dropped.

"Oh my God, you are so hot! I knew that shirt would be absolutely perfect the second I saw it! I knew it! I knew it!" Ino said, jumping up and down.

Tenten smiled hugely. "Naruto's not gonna know what hit him!"

Emiko blushed. "You think so?"

Both girls nodded. "Totally." Tenten said.

"Now, we have to go back to my house for my favorite part. Hair and makeup!" Ino said happily, and pulled Emiko and Tenten out of the store and towards her house.

* * *

"So, what's up Kiba?" Naruto said, confused.

Kiba looked uncomfortable and released a long breath. "How'd you do it?" He muttered.

Naruto furrowed his brow. "Do what?"

Kiba shifted uncomfortably. He clearly wished Naruto would know what he was talking about right away.

"How...how did you get Emiko to like you...? How do you woo a girl?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Gah! Couldn't you ask your dad about this or something!" Then he stopped. "Wait...you think Emiko likes me?"

Kiba rolled his eyes. "You're kidding, right?"

"No."

Kiba looked at Naruto disbelievingly. "You really are clueless, you know that? She looks at you like...like you're her everything." Then Kiba snorted. "And you don't even know how you did it! Hell, you didn't even know _that _you did it!"

Naruto shrugged. "Sorry." Then he stopped and blushed a little. "You..you really think she likes me?"

Kiba snorted. "You are freaking clueless. Yes, Naruto. She likes you."

Those words made Naruto want to scream with happiness. "But then why hasn't she said anything?"

"How should I know? Do I look like a girl to you?" Kiba snapped. "Maybe she's waiting for you to say something."

"Wait..." Naruto said, then grinned mischievously. "Since you asked me how to woo a girl, does that mean that _you _like someone?"

Kiba's face flushed. "N-No! It was...I was...um..."

Naruto's grin broadened at the Inuzuka's loss of words. "Who is it? Ino?"

"What? No!"

"Sakura?"

"No"

"Tenten?"

"Dammit, shut up Naruto! I told you I don't like anyone!"

"Hinata?"

Kiba's face turned a violent red. "W-What? W-Why would you think her?"

"Oh my God you like Hinata!" Naruto said so loudly that a few passing villagers stared at them.

"Shut up, you baka!" Kiba said, his face growing a deeper shade of red by the second.

Naruto, still smiling hugely, put his hands behind his head in his signature bored gesture. "Sorry, but if you want girl advice, I'd recommend talking to someone more like Ino."

"I can't do that! Ino can't be trusted with secrets!" Kiba snapped, his face still red.

Naruto shrugged. "I didn't really do anything but spend a lot of time with her. You could try that."

Kiba grumbled to himself and put his hands in his pockets. "You're no help at all!"

Naruto laughed. "Sorry, that's all I got."

Kiba snorted and rolled his eyes, then stopped. "Hey, where's Akamaru?"

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "He wasn't with you when you got here."

"Shit! He never wanders away!" Kiba said.

"You lost your dog! Are you kidding?" Naruto said.

"Help me find him!" Kiba begged.

Naruto smiled a little, and was looking somewhere behind Kiba. "I already did."

"Hm?" Kiba said and turned to look where Naruto was looking.

There, a few streets down, underneath a large oak tree, was Hinata sitting while petting Akamaru. For a horrible second, Kiba feared that Hinata might've heard Naruto when he proclaimed loudly that Kiba liked her. But to his relief he realized that she was too far away to hear. In fact, she hadn't even noticed them. She was looking off into the sky while absentmindedly petting Akamaru's head.

"Well it looks like Akamaru's already quite taken with her. Go over there!" Naruto said and gave an encouraging push. "I gotta go. Emiko's probably wondering where I am."

"You're leaving me?" Kiba shrieked.

"Well, as much as I'd like to stay and watch this, I do have to go. I'll see ya later." Naruto said and turned around and walked away.

"You bastard..." Kiba muttered. He took a long, deep breath and walked towards Hinata.

* * *

Hinata was looking up at the sky. She had lost him...she had lost Naruto-kun...he liked Emiko. She looked down at Akamaru who was pretty much asleep at this point and smiled. She had always loved dogs, but she knew better then to ask her father for one. Then she heard someone clear their throat. Hinata looked up.

"Oh, Kiba-kun!" Then she looked down at Akamaru. "S-Sorry, he came up to me while I was sitting under here and I just started petting him...sorry you were probably worried."

Kiba shrugged, trying to look like he didn't care. Then taking another deep breath and not giving himself time to back out of it, he sat down across from her and began petting Akamaru also.

Hinata was a little surprised. She had just expected Kiba to take Akamaru and leave. She looked up at him, but he seemed pretty interested in Akamaru's fur. But the way the sun shone off his face...had he always been that handsome? Have his shoulders always been so broad?

"He must really like you." Kiba said quietly.

"Huh?" Hinata said, snapping out of her daydream.

"He left me to come be by you. He's never done that before." Kiba finally looked up and made eye contact with Hinata. "He must really like you."

Hinata smiled. "Yeah...I guess he does..."

* * *

Emiko examined her reflection. Her hair was down, but didn't have its usual straightness. Ino and Tenten had spent quite a while adding a slight wave to it, and Emiko had to say, it looked pretty nice. Her eyes were lightly rimmed in a light eyeliner and she had mascara on. Her lids were a soft pink color that matched the blush on her cheeks. Emiko had tried to tell Ino that she didn't need blush, she would be blushing enough in the first place, but Ino had insisted. Emiko's lips were a soft coral color and her complexion was flawless. Emiko had never really seen herself as beautiful...but damn, what makeup could do.

Ino let out a satisfied sigh. "Finally. You are absolutely perfect. No man in his right mind would say no to you."

Tenten nodded. "Our work here is done."

"Now don't you chicken out and waste all of our hard work. You go and talk to Naruto right away." Ino said as she guided Emiko to the door.

"And we want to hear all about it!" Tenten yelled after Emiko as she walked out the door.

As Emiko started walking in her high heels that Tenten had bought her, she began to wish Ino or Tenten had offered to walk her back to Naruto's. It was getting dark, and Ino lived in a part of the village that was for the most part, unfamiliar to Emiko. Sighing, she continued to walk, hoping that she was going the right way.

* * *

Naruto was walking back to his house. _I hope Emiko didn't get lost on her way back _He thought.

_Was Kiba right? Could Emiko...could she really like me? Is she just waiting for me to say something? Should I say something?_

Naruto sighed and put his hands in his pockets and continued on his way.

* * *

Emiko turned a corner and still didn't recognize where she was. She saw a figure walking a little way ahead of her, but didn't think much of it. At least, not until she noticed that the person had spiky yellow hair and a black and orange jumpsuit. She began to run towards him, until she remembered that she had to do it today. She promised herself she would. She took a deep breath, and yelled, "Naruto-kun!"

* * *

**Yay! Sorry this took so long...it's probably going to take me even longer to write these once school starts again...but anyways, I threw in some KibaHina fluff for you KibaHina fans! That wasn't going to be part of the story, but I felt kinda bad for her...I mean, she had liked Naruto for so long, so I felt like I should give her a boyfriend! I actually feel worse for Sakura though...maybe I'll give her someone else later on.**

**Anyways, hope you liked it! Please review!**


	9. Together

Once again, I do not own Naruto or its characters. I'm just a mega fan!

Please review and enjoy!

Chapter 9

Naruto was walking down the dark street towards his house when he heard, "Naruto-kun!" In a voice that was unmistakably Emiko's.

He stopped and turned around, only to then blush furiously.

Emiko was stunning. More so then usual, if that was possible. Her hair had a slight wave to it that it didn't have the last time he saw her, and it was blowing gently in the breeze. She had a low cut halter top shirt on that hugged her every curve. Her lacy skirt was blowing up a little higher then its natural hem line because of the breeze. Her lips were shining in the moonlight, but her eyes were the most stunning part of her. He never had seen anything more beautiful. Naruto felt a nose bleed coming on.

When Emiko finally caught up to him, he still hadn't moved an inch. "I'm glad I found you, I wasn't entirely sure where I was." Emiko said laughing nervously. Naruto still hadn't stopped gaping.

_Damn, Tenten and Ino overdid it! He probably thinks I look like a clown with all this makeup. _Emiko thought to herself.

"You look..." Naruto said, at a loss for words.

_Trashy? Fake? Sleazy? Ugly? _She resented herself for letting Ino and Tenten do this to her. And to think that she was going to tell him she liked him.

"Beautiful."

Emiko felt her heart stop. She looked back into his eyes. He was still clearly shocked, but he was smiling a little.

"R-Really? Ino and Tenten did it, I told them it was too much, but they kept saying that it looked good, and then they had to go and buy me these clothes, I told them not to but they kept saying..." Emiko stopped herself before she could sound any more stupid.

To Emiko's surprise, Naruto shook his head. "You look beautiful."

That was all Emiko needed. She had to tell him. And maybe he did like her back. I mean, guys don't go around telling their friends that they're beautiful.

"Naruto..." Emiko said, her heart pounding so loudly that she was sure Naruto could hear it too, but she refused to let herself back down.

"Y-Yeah?" Naruto said, hating himself for not being able to speak properly while Emiko looked so gorgeous.

"I have to tell you something...and I'm not sure how you'll react, but I have to get it off my chest."

_Oh God..._Naruto thought. That didn't sound good.

"I..." Emiko took another deep breath. This was the moment of truth.

"I really...I like you Naruto...as more then a friend." Emiko said, then looked up into his eyes.

Naruto stood there. He was tempted to ask Emiko to slap him to make sure he wasn't dreaming. But...it was real. It was real. _It was real! _Naruto resisted the urge to scream. Kiba had been right! She liked him! Naruto couldn't help himself, and he busted out laughing.

Emiko's blush deepened. Oh, so that was funny? Naruto was that out of her league that it was humorous to him?

"Well, I didn't know it was the ridiculous. Forget I said anything."

Naruto sobered up immediately. "That's not why I was laughing Emiko. I was laughing because...well, here I was, walking down the street, trying to figure out how to tell you...that I like you, too. As more then a friend."

Emiko's heart lifted. She felt the need to laugh at herself for thinking for even a second that Naruto would laugh at her. He liked her...he actually liked her...for weeks, it had just been a dream of hers that there was even the slightest chance that he might like her back. But now it was a reality.

"Naruto...I'm so happy..." Emiko said, and thought for a second that she was going to cry.

Naruto smiled his dazzling smile at her. "How'd I get so lucky..." He said, and on pure instinct, he pulled her towards him, into a hug.

Emiko's whole body filled with electricity, and she hugged him back, never wanting to let go. She rested her head against his chest and sighed contentedly. "So are we like...together now?" She asked.

He smiled. "I would like nothing more." He said simply and Emiko felt like she could fly.

Reluctantly, Naruto pulled away. "We should probably get back to my apartment." He held out his hand and gave her his dazzling smile. "Let's go."

Unable to keep a smile off her face, Emiko took Naruto's hand as they continued to walk back to the apartment.

When they got back, Naruto turned and looked at Emiko. Naruto was using his thumb to gently rub the back of Emiko's hand. She wasn't even sure he realized that he was doing it. Not that she would've protested.

Emiko looked up at him, wondering what he was thinking about.

_I should tell her...she deserves to know who she's dating. _Naruto thought to himself.

Naruto took another step towards her so their faces were mere inches apart.

_Oh God...he's going to kiss me!_ Emiko thought excitedly.

But much to her disappointment, he just sighed and said, "Emiko...do you know what a Jinchuuriki is?"

Emiko cocked her head. "Jinchuuriki?" She said. That sounded so familiar...

"Isn't it...a person with a bijuu sealed inside them?" But where had she heard that...dammit, why couldn't she remember?

"Yeah. And did you hear the story about when the kyuubi attacked the village 16 years ago?"

She furrowed her brow. It sounded vaguely familiar. Like she had been told the story when she was young. "I...I think I heard about that."

Naruto looked down. "And...do you remember the part of the story...about how the Fourth defeated the kyuubi?''

"He sealed it in an infant, right?" Emiko said, wondering why he was telling her this.

"Yes. He did..." Naruto took a deep breath. "And that infant...was me."

Emiko stopped trying to figure out why that seemed so familiar and looked up at him. His eyes were filled with such pain...

"And that's why the villagers were so cruel to you." She didn't say it like a question. She knew it was why.

Naruto nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner...I understand if you don't want to be...you know, together."

Emiko gaped at him. "What? Why would you think that I would make such a big deal about it? You're still you. And you are the person that I want to be with." She said firmly and crossed her arms.

Now it was Naruto's turn to gape. It...didn't matter? A broad smile spread across his face. "You're really amazing, you know that?"

Emiko blushed, then she got firm. "I don't want you to be afraid to tell me anything. Ever. I said I really like you, and nothing can change that."

Naruto's face softened. "Thanks, Emiko." He said quietly. Then he looked up at her and smiled. "Sleep well, Emiko-chan." Emiko's heart fluttered. He rarely called her Emiko-chan. Kinda like how she rarely called him Naruto-kun. She only called him that when she wanted him to know she was being serious about something. She watched him leave and walk into his room.

Sighing happily, Emiko collapsed onto the couch. She did it. She told Naruto she liked him. And he liked her back.

* * *

Emiko looked around and immediately realized she was in a dream. She was in a small village that seemed a little familiar. She looked at the bustling villagers. She didn't recognize any of them. Until she saw an older man and a young girl, no older then 8. They were holding hands and the child seemed to be excitedly telling him a story, while he was chuckling quietly.

The girl with the long black hair and black eyes giggled as they continued walking close enough for Emiko to hear what they were saying.

_"Sensei! Sensei! What are we doing today?"_ She said, while swinging her arm back and forth.

The old man looked off at the sky. _"How old are you now?"_ He said quietly.

The girl laughed. _"What a silly question! You know that I'm turning 8 tomorrow!"_ The girl said, giggling.

He looked down at her with a sad smile. A smile that clearly held a lot of pain. But the girl didn't seem to notice.

_"Yes, I suppose I did know that."_

The girl, ignorant as she appeared to be, seemed to notice the pain in her sensei's voice.

_"Sensei, why do you seem so sad?"_

The old man looked away. _"It's nothing, Moriko."_

The girl looked like she didn't buy it, but brushed it off. _"Hey, Sensei, are my parents finally going to come to see me for my birthday?"_

A look of pain flashed across the man's face. There was something he didn't have the heart to tell her. Maybe her parents were dead.

_"No...not this time. But your brother contacted me and told me he would." _

The girls face lit up. "_Really? I haven't seen nii-san in so long!"_

The old man smiled at her enthusiasm. _"It's going to be the best day ever! We can go out to dinner, and I can show nii-san how hard I've trained, and we're going to have so much fun! I can't wait!"_

The way the girl rambled and talked so quickly reminded Emiko of herself.

Then she gasped. Maybe this _was _herself! She has had dreams about herself before, and it made sense that she could again. Was this her childhood?

Eager for more clues to her past, if this girl really was her, she quickly followed them down the street.

_"But, Sensei..." _the girl said. "_Why don't my parents ever come to see me? I know I've seen them when I was really little, but I can't even remember what they look like."_

The man looked at her sympathetically. _"Your parents are very busy. They have a lot to do back in Konoha." _Konoha?

_"Well...then why can't we visit them sometime? I don't remember what its like to be in a big village like Konoha!"_

The man sighed. _"I am sorry, Moriko. We can't."_

The girl stomped her foot. _"But why?"_

"_You will understand one day."_

The girl crossed her arms and grumbled. Emiko quickly hurried after them.

"Emiko?" She heard someone say. Emiko looked around, but no one was there. She continued to follow the old man and the girl.

"Hey, Emiko!"

And just like that, she was brought back to reality. Naruto was hovering over her, shaking her gently.

"Hm? What time is it?" Emiko said.

"Nearly noon. You actually slept later then me. I didn't think it was possible."

Emiko laughed and looked up at the loving face of her boyfriend.

"So, what are we going to do today?"

* * *

There ya go. A bit of a sudden ending I know, but I just needed to be done with this chapter. It was taking way too long.

Anyways, hope you liked it, please review!


	10. Party

Once again, I do not own Naruto or its characters. I'm just a mega fan!

Please review and enjoy!

Chapter 10

"Konoha?" Naruto said, ramen still hanging from his mouth.

"That's what the old man said." Emiko said. She had just finished telling Naruto her dream, and was now waiting patiently for Naruto to finish his 4th bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's.

"Emiko...are you sure this was a dream about yourself? I mean...it's possible that it was just a dream that your brain made up." Naruto noted.

Emiko shrugged. "I guess. But she _did _look a lot like me. Or maybe I'm just eager to know who I was so I'd be willing to believe anything."

Naruto frowned. The truth was, he had a feeling these dreams _were _real. He just wished she wouldn't believe it. Because if she did...maybe she'd want to go back to wherever she was before. And he couldn't lose her...not now. Not now that they were finally together.

* * *

Tenten walked down the Konoha streets, when she noticed Ino who was ducking behind a crate that was by a market while peeking over it, looking at something that was on the other side of the street.

"Ino, what are you doing?" Tenten said, making Ino jump. Then Ino smiled.

"Naruto and Emiko are on a date!" She said enthusiastically.

"Are you serious?" Tenten said as she ducked next to Ino. Then she sighed.

"But we can barley even see whats happening! Or hear for that matter." Tenten said.

"Hm. You're right. Should we get closer?" Ino said.

"Nah. Let's leave them be."

"Huh? But that ruins all the fun!"

Tenten rolled her eyes. "I'm sure we can make Emiko tell us all about it later."

Ino huffed. "Fine." Then her face brightened. "Hey! She can come to my birthday party! She can tell all of us then."

Tenten smiled. "Good idea."

* * *

When Emiko and Naruto were leaving Ichiraku's, they were immediately barraged by Ino.

"Emiko, Naruto, hey!" She said and ran up to them, Tenten close behind.

Emiko braced herself for embarrassing comments that she was sure would follow the greeting.

But to everyones surprise, Ino cut right to the case. "My birthday is this Friday, in 2 days. We're going to go to a hot springs hotel and we're staying the night there. Wanna come?"

Emiko smiled, but mostly with relief that Ino didn't make an embarrassing comment. "Yeah, sure!"

Ino smiled happily. "Yay! Come to my house at 6 and we can all go together." Then she looked the couple up and down. "You two have fun." She said simply and turned around and walked away.

Tenten smiled and waved before following Ino. "See ya, guys!"

Once they walked away, Naruto said, "Does Ino know we're dating?"

Emiko snorted. "What _doesn't _she know?"

Naruto chuckled and they continued on their way, hand in hand.

* * *

"She remembers nothing. She is in Konoha and is staying with the kyuubi jinchuuriki, Uzamaki Naruto. He also seems to have developed feelings for Moriko." Itachi told Pain.

"Hm." Pain said, looking up at the sky. "We could use that to our advantage. The kyuubi jinchuuriki is impulsive and foolish. If we were to take her while they were alone, we could lure him out of the village and avoid an all out fight." He looked back at Itachi. "You may go."

Itachi nodded and left. The only question left for Pain to decide on was when they should strike.

* * *

It was getting dark by the time Emiko and Naruto returned to his apartment. They had decided to stay at home and watch a movie. Though they weren't really paying attention to it. In fact, Emiko wouldn't even know what movie they were watching if you asked. She was totally focused on how muscular his shoulder was as she laid her head on it and he wrapped his arm around her side, pulling her closer.

Naruto was resisting the urge to shiver with happiness. Her laying on him, feeling the contact of her head and her shoulder...he couldn't remember a time when he had been happier.

They were just talking quietly to one another, and then Naruto sighed.

"Whats the matter?" Emiko said, looking up at him.

"I just don't get it. I don't get why you chose me."

Emiko looked at him until he looked back at her. Then she smiled a little.

"I can't even imagine not being with you. Nothing feels real without you. Whenever I see you, everything just...falls into place. Nothing else seems to matter. You just make me feel...alive. Does that answer your question?"

Naruto gave her his dazzling smile. Then his smile softened into a loving gaze. God, Emiko lived for that look. It was so full of caring and love...and it was all for her. It was then that she realized how close their faces were to each other. She began to blush and look away, but Naruto gently cupped her face, forcing her to continue to look at that extremely sexy gaze.

Emiko felt her face heat up even more as Naruto slowly closed the distance between their faces, as if waiting for her to protest. Instead, Emiko closed her eyes in anticipation for the moment she had been imagining since the second she had seen Naruto for the first time.

Emiko felt his lips connect with hers and her body rejoiced. Electricity was flowing through her veins and she felt invincible. In that moment, she stopped caring about who she was, who she used to be. Emiko is who she is now, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Not if it meant she couldn't have her Naruto-kun.

Naruto felt his body jolt as he finally closed the distance between them. He was sure she was going to protest and say they were moving too fast. But she didn't. Slowly, he wrapped his hands around her, one behind her head becoming lost in her long, dark hair and the other rested on her lower back.

Emiko didn't protest as Naruto wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer, to the point where she was nearly in his lap. She didn't mind. In fact, the closeness intensified the kiss. Naruto's tongue entered her mouth as she lifted her hands and began to tease Naruto's hair.

Naruto groaned when Emiko began to pull on his hair. It felt so damn good!

Emiko laughed a little when Naruto groaned. It gave her a sense of satisfaction that she was able to please him.

Suddenly, Naruto shifted and she was laying down on the couch with Naruto on top of her, still kissing her furiously. She lifted one leg up and wrapped it around his back, pulling his torso closer to hers.

Emiko felt like she shouldn't be doing this when she had only been dating Naruto for a day, but it just felt right. After weeks of hiding her desire for him, it had built up and now she had released it. Plus he clearly didn't have a problem with it. Emiko ran a hand down his chest while they were still kissing vigorously. As if he read her mind, he pulled away and slipped his shirt off in what must've been record time, then returned to her lips.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and began rubbing them, mostly for her satisfaction, but she could tell he liked it too by the way he grinned a little. She ran her hands down his back, savoring the hardness of it.

Suddenly, Naruto's kiss moved down her neck and he began nipping at her ear. Now it was her turn to groan. Naruto chuckled; husky and raspy and out of breath from the intensity of the kiss. He pulled back to take a look at her.

Emiko licked her lips, savoring the flavor of Naruto. She looked up at his blue eyes that were studying her. He had suspended himself over her with his long, muscular arms. They were both breathing heavily.

"Wow." Emiko panted still looking at his beautiful blue eyes.

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah. Wow." He panted back. Slowly and regretfully, he lifted himself off her and back into a sitting position. Emiko did the same.

"How did you learn how to kiss like that?" Emiko said, dreading the answer. He must've had a lot of previous girlfriends to be able to kiss like that.

Naruto chuckled, a little embarrassed. "Well, actually, Ero-sennin wrote...romance novels and he'd always have me read the rough drafts. Some of the books got pretty...intense."

Emiko laughed, but it was with relief.

They resumed their previous position, but Naruto had yet to put his shirt back on, but it's not like Emiko was complaining.

Emiko felt her eyes getting heavy and she let them close, all the while savoring the hardness of his shoulder muscles.

* * *

Naruto looked down as he heard Emiko's breathing become slow and steady. Her eyes were closed. She had fallen asleep.

Naruto rubbed his thumb across her cheek, savoring the softness of it. In fact, he was pretty tired himself.

He turned off the movie, which he actually forgot was still on, and gently lifted Emiko off the couch.

He carried her to his room and slipped her under the covers, all the while managing to not wake her up. He was about to walk out to the living room to sleep on the couch. But he stopped. Would it be wrong for him to sleep in there too? It's not like they were going to do anything.

Deciding, or hoping rather, that she wouldn't mind, he crawled into bed next to her.

They weren't touching, but he could feel the heat of her body. It made him shiver. Being close to her was all he needed in this world. As long as he could have her, he could deal with anything else.

Her even breathing was the most beautiful sound in the world...it was the sound that he heard as he fell asleep...

* * *

3 days. Thats when Pain decided to send Itachi to scout out Moriko and the kyuubi jinchuuriki. They could get them both at once.

Their plans were finally coming to a close...

* * *

Yay for cliff hangers! This chapter was a little short, sorry guys! Next one will be longer, I promise. And I do not know if they have TV in Naruto time. Whenever the hell that is. How can they not have things like cars when they have head sets and refrigerators? I don't get it. But anyways, hope you liked it! Please review :)


	11. Dream

Once again, I do not own Naruto or its characters. I'm just a mega fan!

Please review and enjoy!

Chapter 11

_"Sensei! Sensei! Where are you?"_

Emiko watched the girl who was in her other dream call frantically to her Sensei. But the girl looked different. She was defiantly the same girl, but now she looked around the age of 11. She was running down the streets of their village. But the village looked a lot different then before...

...because it was on fire.

Women were screaming, the men were evacuating and the children were crying. The girl was sprinting down the street, and Emiko quickly followed, her heart aching at the girl's desperation.

Finally the girl reached her destination. The house she was standing in front of was on fire and it looked like it wouldn't stay standing for much longer. The girl took a deep breath, and bust through the door.

Almost immediately she found what she was looking for. Her Sensei was laying on the ground, pinned under a fallen, flaming beam.

"_Sensei!"_ The girl exclaimed and ran over to him.

Emiko had thought he was dead, until his eyelids fluttered and looked at the girl.

_"Moriko? NO! Get out of here! The building is going to collapse!"_

_"I'm not leaving you, Sensei! I'll...I'll get you out, I promise!"_

Despite his protests and orders to leave him, the girl braced herself and got a good grip on the beam. Her face flashed with pain, but her care for her sensei was stronger then the pain. She managed to get the beam off him in one good heave.

Both of them were coughing badly from the smoke, but that didn't stop her. Despite her height, she put his arm over her shoulder and hauled him to his feet. She grunted under his weight, but she wasn't letting that stop her. She practically dragged him to the door she busted open, only to find that it was covered with a wall of flame, one that wouldn't allow either of them to make it through at the pace they were going.

_"Shit!"_ The girl said, and Emiko was surprised that the girl had used such a profanity at her age.

The old man looked up at her sadly. _"It is my time, Moriko. Leave me. And never forget all I have taught you."_

The girl's eyes overflowed with tears. "_N-No! There has to be another way out!"_

And as if showing her there wasn't, another beam fell from the ceiling and landed dangerously close to them.

The girl dissolved into sobs. _"I-I can't leave you, sensei! If you're going down, then so am I!"_

"_Is anyone in there?" _An outside voice called.

_"In here!" _The old man said in a raspy voice, before coughing again.

A large, bulky man dove through the wall of fire into where they were.

_"Take Moriko. I am too old. I would not be able to survive from the injuries I have sustained. Take her and leave, now!" _He ordered him. Despite how old he was, he had an air of control about him that would make anyone obey him, even if that person outweighed him by 100 pounds.

The man looked sad to leave the girl's sensei, but he nodded and picked up the girl so easily, it looked like she was made of paper.

_"Let me go! I need my sensei!"_

_"I am sorry, Moriko-chan." _The man said in a gravely voice. He wrapped his huge arms around her, partly so she wouldn't struggle so much and partly so she wouldn't get burned when he jumped through the wall of flames.

_"NO! Put me down!"_ The girl screamed as he began to run through the fire.

A single tear fell down the old man's wrinkled face but his face maintained his sad smile.

_"SENSEI!" _She screamed as the man leaped through the fire.

Once they were safely outside, he put her down only for her to try and run back in. The man held her back. The girl sobbed uncontrollably.

_"You can't just let him die! Go get him! He can't die! He's all I have!"_

Then the building collapsed into itself. No one could've survived that. The girl stopped struggling and looked at the rubble, horrified. The man slowly released her and she fell to her knees.

_"I-I'm really sorry, Moriko-chan...there was no other way..." _He said sadly. He truly felt bad, you could see it in his face.

But she didn't seem to hear him. She just stared at the destroyed building, her face absolutely horrified.

_"I have to go, Moriko-chan...to see if anyone else is stuck in their house..." _

Again she didn't respond. He gave her one last sympathetic look and ran towards other houses.

Finally the girl moved. Her expression changed from horrified to devastated and she put her head down and began to cry even harder.

Emiko's heart ached for the girl and before she knew it, she had fallen to the ground crying for the girl...for herself...

* * *

Emiko woke with a start. She had tears still rolling down her cheeks.

That dream...it was real. She could feel it in her heart. She knew that happened to her...her poor sensei...

She still couldn't remember anything else, though. The memory that was her dream was now clear, she could remember it clearly. But anything else...was still blank. She closed her eyes and sighed, partially from frustration, and partially because her heart was still aching for her sensei.

After a few minutes of grieving, Emiko sighed and decided to move on with the day. She sat up on the couch...err, bed?

She noticed, surprised, that she was in Naruto's bed. And...so was he. He had yet to put on a shirt from last night. She felt her face heat up.

Slowly she brushed the covers off herself, trying to be as quiet as possible so she wouldn't wake Naruto up.

But somehow, the deep sleeper stirred and rolled over to look at Emiko with his tired, blue eyes. Soon enough, his eyes lit up with recognition. And remembrance.

"Hey" He said smiling a little. Then he looked a little deeper into Emiko's face and his smile vanished. "What's wrong? Were you crying?" Naruto said sitting up to meet her at eye level.

Emiko looked down. Her eyes must've still been red. "I...I had another dream..."

After Emiko explained what happened, they sat in silence. She looked up at him, and he immediately hugged her.

"Emiko-chan...I'm so sorry."

Emiko wrapped her arms around him and began to cry silently on his shoulder.

After several minutes of sitting like that, Emiko straightened.

She rubbed the tears off her cheeks. "I'm okay now." Then she smiled at him. "Thank you."

He smiled his dazzling smile at her. Then she remembered something.

"Oh! I have to get Ino something for her birthday!" Then she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I don't know her very well but I know she likes clothes...and makeup..."

Naruto shivered. "Please don't tell me I have to come with you...?"

Emiko laughed, a laugh that made Naruto shiver even more then the thought of clothes shopping did.

"Nah, you don't have to come. I think I'm starting to get the layout of the village. I'll be able to find my way and back." Naruto sighed with relief.

After getting dressed and doing her hair, Emiko was off. She retraced her steps from when she, Ino and Tenten went to the clothing store.

She was browsing through the racks trying to find something that would suit Ino, when she came across a shirt that she remembered Ino adoring.

* * *

FLASHBACK TIME

_"This shirt is beautiful! Oh with the lace, and the ruffles! Strapless, too so it can show off my shoulders!" _Then she had sighed. _"But I promised my dad I wouldn't buy anything this trip...purple is my color too..."_

_

* * *

_Without giving it a second thought, Emiko got the shirt off its hanger and bought it for Ino.

_But then of course, no gift would be complete without a sincere card..._Emiko thought as she headed off to a store a few buildings down that sold cards.

* * *

"In two days." Pain told Itachi.

"Should Kisame accompany me?" Itachi asked.

Pain thought about it. "No. It shouldn't be necessary."

Itachi nodded. "Alright. I will leave tomorrow and from then I will arrive in approximately a day so long as I don't run into any trouble."

Pain nodded in approval of Itachi's scheduling, then turned and left.

Pain's thoughts as he was walking away were, _'Now we will get the final two jinchuurikis left. Everything is coming to a close...'_

_

* * *

_YAY! Now I know a few of you saw that coming and I wasn't originally going to tell you guys that so soon, but I figured a lot of you already knew, so what the hell? Why not? And I know, I lied, this chapter wasn't longer then the other one, in fact it's shorter, and well that wasn't quite supposed to turn out like that...But if I started writing more there wouldn't have been a decent ending point for, like the next 2,000 words and I really wanted to get this in before I started school (which starts in a day FML) So sorry guys, the next one really will be longer!

Please review, I hope you enjoyed it!


	12. Awkward

Sooo sorry I didn't get this out faster. I had so much homework the last few days. And my school is stupid and never sent me something I was supposed to do over the summer for a class I'm taking so I had to read a 305 page book AND annotate it AND find 3 articles that related to the book THEN annotate the articles THEN write a paper on one of the articles IN 2 DAYS. Worst weekend EVER! *sigh* sorry I always feel the urge to start ranting whenever I think of how freaking stupid my school is. On a totally unrelated note, here's chaper 12.

I do not own Naruto or its characters. I'm just a mega fan!

Please review and enjoy!

Chapter 12

Yesterday had passed in a blur. After another intense make-out session, Emiko had ended up in Naruto's bed. Again.

Once again, the God-like Naruto didn't have his shirt on when Emiko rolled over. How her fingers ached to rub that toned back, his firm six pack...Emiko suppressed a shiver. Instead of getting up right away, Emiko decided to savor seeing Naruto's bare back, when she was interrupted by a knock on the door. Emiko waited a second to see if Naruto would get up to get it or the person would go away.

The person knocked frantically on the door again. Emiko grumbled, unhappy that her stare-at-Naruto's-back time had been interrupted. She slipped out of bed and walked to the door.

Emiko rubbed her eyes and yawned, and opened the door.

"Ino. What are you doing here?" Emiko said, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.

"Well, I came t-" Ino stopped and stared at Emiko. Or rather, what she was wearing. Emiko looked down herself, not remembering what she had worn to bed that night.

To Emiko's mortification, she was wearing black shorts and the jacket of a jumpsuit. _Naruto's _jumpsuit.

"Oh my God, you _didn't!"_ Ino said, her face shocked.

"I-Ino, wait, it's not like-"

"Who's at the door, Emiko-chan?" Naruto said strolling into the room where Ino could clearly see him. He was still shirtless.

Ino's eyes bulged.

"W-wait, I-Ino! I-It's not like that! W-We didn't...!" Emiko couldn't force the words out.

"Oh my GOD!" Ino said, but a small smile was creeping onto her face. This would be the gossip of the year.

Realization clicked in Naruto's face. "Oh, God, Ino! W-We didn't do...that!"

Ino looked slightly disappointed, but the emotion quickly left her face and was replaced with that mischievous grin Emiko had grown to fear.

"Then what _did _you do?" She prompted.

Emiko's face flushed, and, though she couldn't see him, she imagined Naruto's face flushed too.

"T-That's not...I-It's not..." Emiko sighed. No matter what she said she knew Ino would twist her words.

Ino smiled. The look on her face clearly said 'I know you'll tell me later'.

"Well, anyways, I came to let you know to not eat dinner. We're gonna eat at the hot spring tonight."

"Oh okay. Thanks for letting me know." Emiko said a little awkwardly.

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. I'll just leave you alone now." She said and turned and walked away. Emiko quickly shut the door.

"Why couldn't she have just called?" Emiko groaned. She unzipped his jumpsuit top and handed it to him.

Naruto watched as Emiko unzipped his jumpsuit. She hadn't been wearing a shirt under it- just her bra. Naruto felt his face flush. There was not a more beautiful creature on earth.

Emiko saw that Naruto wasn't focused on the jumpsuit top she was handing him. He was checking her out. Emiko felt her face flush. Naruto closed the distance between them in a few strides so that they were only standing a few inches apart.

"You are so beautiful." He said quietly.

Her fingers acted on their own and rose to caress Naruto's abs. Electricity shot up through her fingertips and jump started her heart. Emiko looked up at Naruto. His cerulean eyes were filled of such adoration that it made her shiver.

Standing on her tip toes, Emiko laid her lips across his.

Naruto's strong hands gripped her shoulders firmly, but not tightly. Emiko wrapped her hands in his yellow hair and tugged on it lightly, knowing how much he liked that.

Sure enough, he groaned a little. Emiko gave an out-of-breath giggle.

Naruto smiled. Her laugh was so beautiful. "Oh yeah? See how you like it." Naruto said and bent down a little, kissing up her neck and stopping at her ear and nibbled gently at it, knowing how much Emiko liked that. Now it was her turn to groan in pleasure.

Suddenly, the idea of having sex with Emiko didn't seem all that bad. Or unrealistic. Sure, they acted embarrassed when Ino thought they had but...why? Naruto was sure Emiko was made for him. He couldn't see himself without her. In the heat of the moment, it seemed like a great idea.

Emiko pulled away from the kiss and Naruto couldn't help the little whimper that escaped him. She laughed, a little out of breath.

"We should get dressed. It's already noon." Emiko said.

Naruto grudgingly went into his room and did as she said, his thoughts still on Emiko and how far she'd be willing to go...he'd never know unless he asked.

* * *

Itachi slowed his pace down to a casual walk. He didn't need to hurry; he still had a day left. He had gotten to the Fire Country much quicker then he had expected to and as a result was almost already in Hidden Leaf village territory.

He sighed unhappily. What now?

He supposed he could scout out the village, see what Moriko's been up to. He could easily go undetected as long as Konoha was unprepared.

He sighed again, and since there was nothing better to do, he started to head for Konoha, disguised his chakra, and turned into a raven.

* * *

Emiko looked at the wrapped present in her hands.

She had placed the purple lacy top into a box and wrapped it with, of course, purple wrapping paper. If there was anything Emiko had learned about Ino, it was that she adored the color purple.

Emiko glanced at the clock again. It was about 5 minutes until 6 o'clock.

She sighed. She was excited for Ino's party and getting to know the girls of the village better, but she loved sleeping in Naruto's bed.

"Naruto, I should probably get going."

He looked almost as disappointed as she felt. "Okay. You sure you don't want me to walk you there?"

"N-" Emiko said, then stopped. This was the last time Emiko would see him for, like, a day! She knew it seemed silly, to have separation anxiety with her boyfriend, she just hated leaving his side. She smiled at him. "Sure, you can walk me there." Emiko decided.

Naruto gave her his dazzling smile. "Yosh! Let's go!"

Emiko couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. He was so cute!

They were holding hands walking down the street, getting them a few double takes from villagers who hadn't heard the news of them dating yet. When Emiko looked at the villagers, she couldn't help but wonder how many were abusive and cruel to her Naruto-kun. The thought made her furious. He had told her not to let it bother her, that if he could forgive them she should too. But she couldn't help it. She wanted to hate them so badly.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a gentle squeeze by Naruto's hand. She looked up at him.

"What's the matter?" He asked her, looking concerned.

"Huh?" It wasn't until then that Emiko had realized that her face was twisted in an angry grimace.

"Oh. It's nothing..." She said.

She could tell Naruto wasn't satisfied by the answer by the way he furrowed his brow, trying to read her face. He was about to say something before he was interrupted.

"Yo! Emiko!"

Naruto and Emiko looked up to see Ino waving to them from her doorway. Emiko looked back up at Naruto.

"I'll see you tomorrow." It was a good-bye, but the way she said it seemed more like she was trying to convince herself of it.

The expression on his face told that he wasn't going to let her odd look pass, but he smiled at her and said, "Okay. Tomorrow." Then he looked back up. "Happy Birthday, Ino." He said.

"Thanks!" Ino said with a huge smile. Naruto turned and walked away and Emiko walked up to Ino.

"We're still waiting on Sakura, but then we'll leave for the hot spring!" Ino said excitedly. "We're all waiting in my room for her. C'mon." Ino said as she gestured for Emiko to follow her up the stairs.

As they were going up the stairs, Emiko caught sight of the kitchen.

A women with short, light blond hair like Ino's was standing by the stove, cooking what looked like soup. But her attention was on the man that was smiling at her from the kitchen table. Emiko almost stopped in her tracks when she recognized the man as Inoichi.

"What's Inoichi-san doing in your kitchen?" Emiko whispered in Ino's ear.

Ino laughed. "He's my dad! You've meet?"

Emiko nodded. "You could say that."

Before Ino could question her further, they reached what Emiko assumed was Ino's room due to the girly laughing and talking coming from the other side of the door.

Ino opened the door to reveal a large room where the walls were colored with none other then purple paint. Tenten and Hinata were on Ino's bed giggling.

"Emiko! Hey!" Tenten said, looking up and smiling politely.

"H-Hello, Emiko." Hinata said.

Ino sat down on the bed across from Hinata. Emiko sat down next to her.

"So as I was saying," Ino said and fixed her gaze to Hinata. "Why've you been acting even weirder then usual?"

Hinata's face flushed, and Emiko couldn't tell if it was because of the 'weirder the usual' comment or from being found out about something.

"Yeah, I've noticed that too. What's going on?" Tenten said, leaning closer. Emiko couldn't help but be a little curious herself.

"W-What do y-you mean?" Hinata stammered and began twiddling her fingers. Ino rolled her eyes.

"We mean how you've always been 'busy' and how if you're just walking down the street you'll just start looking up into the clouds and smiling." Ino said, crossing her arms.

Emiko couldn't help but think about how that was how she acted when she was thinking about Naruto. She had caught herself a few times just looking up at the sky and smiling. Then it clicked.

"Oh my God, who do you like?" Emiko said smiling eagerly as her girl instincts kicked in and she leaned in closer.

A look of surprise crossed Ino's face, then a large grin crossed her face as she realized that Emiko was right.

"Well?" Tenten demanded.

"W-Well, I-I've been...s-spending a lot of t-time with K-Kiba-kun..." She said, her face so red that Emiko was surprised that she didn't pass out.

"Oh my _God!" _Ino squealed. "So are you two, like, going out?"

Hinata looked away. "I-I don't th-think so...I-I mean, he hasn't s-said anything y-yet, so..."

"Oh come on! You can't expect him to be the one to say something! Guys are stupid! You have to make your feelings obvious or they'll never know what you want." Tenten said.

Ino nodded in agreement. "Emiko's living proof. She told Naruto she liked him, and now look where she is! Waking up wearing his jumpsuit!" Ino dumped her gossip smoothly.

"_WHAT?" _Tenten and Hinata said simultaneously. It surprised Emiko that a girl like Hinata could yell so loudly.

As if on cue, a voice called Ino from downstairs. "Ino? Sakura is here!"

"Okay, you're explaining that to us later." Tenten said and Hinata nodded in agreement.

The girls walked downstairs to see Sakura standing by Ino's mom.

"Have a good time, girls! And remember, don't talk to anyone you don't know." Ino's mom said.

Ino sighed. "I know, kaa-san."

"And don't order too much for dinner! I'm not made of money, you know!" Inoichi called from the kitchen.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Okay, tou-san." Then Ino turned to the rest of the girls, smiling hugely.

"Let's go have fun!"

* * *

YAY! So there you have it. Again, sorry this took so long. I've just been so busy with school work...unfortunatly the next one will probably take a while too. But I do have two days off next week, so I'll try to get a lot of writing done then. On a more related note, the story is going to pick up fast! There will probably only be 8 more chapters in this particular story and then a sequel unless I get too lazy and just don't feel like it.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it! Please review!


	13. Hot Springs

So I finally managed to finish this chapter. It took ridiculously long, I know. But it was a lot of fun to write, so that wasn't why it took so long. Homework is why! The school system is trying to keep me away from the more important things in life! Like Naruto fanfictions :) Anywho, Please review and enjoy!

Chapter 13

Naruto grumbled to himself as he was walking home. He almost resented Ino for taking Emiko away from him for a night. How he had enjoyed the last few late night make-outs...the feeling of her soft, supple skin...her long, silky, black hair...

Lost in his thoughts, Naruto nearly ran into another villager, earning him a dirty look that he was pretty familiar with. Like usual, Naruto brushed it off and apologized. "Gomen!" Naruto said and returned to walking.

Putting his hands in his pockets, he shuffled along the street. He used to be so used to spending his nights alone...now all he could think about was how bored he'd be. Naruto sighed, and kept walking home.

"Oi! Naruto!"

Naruto turned around, surprised at the familiar voice.

"Ero-sennin! What are you doing here?" Last Naruto had heard, Jiraiya had been doing some spying on Akatsuki.

Jiraiya raised his eyebrows. "What? No 'let's start training' or 'teach me a new jutsu'? It's been a month. I thought you'd already be anxious for more. But if you're good, I'll just go..." Jiraiya teased.

"No, no! That's not what I meant at all, and you know it, you old perv!"

Jiraiya couldn't help but smile. As annoying as Naruto was, he had missed him.

"So when can we start?" Naruto said. Then, thinking about how bored he'd be tonight, he asked, "How about tonight?"

"Why so soon? I just got to the village! Give me some time to rel-"

Naruto groaned loudly. "C'mon, ero-sennin! You don't have anything to do except hit on women!"

Jiraiya looked thoughtful. "Well this _is _the most popular season for travelers to come in and out of the village...never know when a fine lady will be amongst them..."

Naruto groaned again. "C'mon! Pleeeaaaase? I haven't had any good training for a month!"

Jiraiya sighed. "I suppose we can do something today."

"Yatta!" Naruto looked down. He wasn't in his training clothes, he was just in a tee-shirt and a pair of slacks.

"I just need to change first." Naruto said.

Jiraiya sighed. "Fine. We can stop at you're apartment first." Jiraiya was actually a little curious. He hadn't ever seen the inside of Naruto's apartment.

When they got there, Jiraiya was surprised. He hadn't expected this from Naruto. His apartment was...clean. Never in a million years would Jiraiya have thought that Naruto would've owned a clean apartment. Especially because of the state in which they had always left their hotel rooms when they were away training.

By the surprised look on Jiraiya's face, Naruto realized that Jiraiya didn't know about Emiko staying with him. Naruto suppressed a sigh and wondered if he had checked in with the Hokage at all.

After a short contemplation, Naruto decided that it would be in his best interest not to tell Jiraiya about Emiko. Jiraiya would of course assume something perverted, and Naruto would never hear the end of him having a women in his house.

Naruto walked into his room, followed by Jiraiya. Naruto immediately went to his drawer and began rummaging through it for his training clothes.

"What is _this_?" Jiraiya screeched.

Naruto turned around promptly to tell the old man to shut his yap, but then he blanched.

Jiraiya was holding a sleek, black bra. One Naruto clearly remembered unclasping with his teeth during one of his and Emiko's escapades. They must've left it in the bed and forgot about it.

"U-Um...w-well, see, th-thats...um..." Naruto fumbled with his words.

"I can't believe it! You, who always criticized my work, got a girl into bed! So young, too! I'm so proud!"

Naruto felt like he would faint. Most people would take it as a complement if their sensei said they were proud of them. But then again, most people didn't have senseis like Jiraiya.

"D-Don't be! W-We didn't do..._that!"_ Naruto couldn't even get the words out.

Jiraiya's face was disappointed. "Why not?"

Naruto blushed. "This isn't one of your one night stand books! I...I'm serious about this girl...I...I don't want to rush anything...and I defiantly don't want to push her into something she doesn't want to do." Naruto said firmly.

Jiraiya was shocked. Partially because Naruto had actually done things with a girl, but mostly by how mature Naruto was acting. He still couldn't wrap his mind around Naruto with a girl.

"So who is it? The pink-haired one? Sakura?" Jiraiya asked.

"No, that never really got past a crush..." Naruto said, reminiscing on how he had once adored Sakura.

Jiraiya looked confused. Naruto had never even mentioned any other girls from the village.

"Did you even tell baa-chan that you're here?" Naruto demanded.

Promptly ignoring the blond, Jiraiya continued. "So who is it? What's she look like? Tall? Blonde? Busty?" Jiraiya said, nearly getting a nosebleed from the mental image he had created.

Naruto flushed.

Jiraiya couldn't help feeling surprised yet again. The last time he had seen Naruto, breasts had made him want to gag. Now they made him blush.

"H-Her name is Emiko...Tsunade never told you about her?"

"Emiko? No, I don't recall her saying anything. Beautiful name, though."

Jiraiya complementing Emiko made Naruto feel strange...not in a bad way, though. Was it proud that he felt?

"So when do I get to meet her?"

Naruto felt himself pale again. Jiraiya...and Emiko? It would be a disaster! Naruto couldn't even begin to imagine all the things he would tell her!

"She's with Ino right now." Naruto said simply.

"So how'd you meet?"

Naruto couldn't help but smile a little. "It's a long story."

* * *

Once they got to their room in the hot springs, Ino had immediately demanded that Emiko explain herself and Naruto.

"C'mon! There's gotta be something juicy!" Ino demanded.

Sakura barley heard anything that the other girls were saying. All she heard was 'Emiko and Naruto were in bed together' and her mind shut down. She couldn't be mad at Emiko. She knew that...it wasn't her fault...but then who's fault was it? Probably Sakura's but she couldn't admit that to herself. So she settled on blaming Naruto. A rational voice in the back of her head told her that if she wasn't so cruel to Naruto and if she didn't turn him down so much that he'd already be hers. But she pushed that voice out of her head, and tried her best not to hate Emiko.

"N-Not really...we didn't d-do anything quite like..._that.." _Emiko said quietly.

Ino sighed. "Well that's disappointing. Anyways, It's time for presents!" Ino said, and the girls laughed.

One by one, the girls handed Ino their presents. Tenten got Ino black, strappy heels that were dangerously high, but Ino adored them. Hinata got her fake diamond earrings and necklace and a purple hair clip, which Ino promptly put on, saying that it matched her style much better then her blue one. A distant looking Sakura got Ino a black lacy skirt that was pretty close to the one that Ino and Tenten had almost gotten for Emiko. And then it was Emiko's turn. She was nervous, seeing as she didn't know Ino that well and hoped that it suited her style.

Ino did quick work of the wrapping paper that Emiko spent so much time of getting on the box just right. When Ino reached the contents of the box, her eyes widened with adoration.

"The top!" She squealed. "You got it for me!"

Emiko beamed at what she was pretty sure was the best gift of the night. Then she got an odd sensation of eyes boring into her back. She turned around, half expecting some peeping tom to be looking through her window. But no one was there except for a raven that was staring eerily at her. Brushing it off, Emiko turned back to the other girls.

"Now I have a perfect outfit for tomorrow!" Ino said. The girls all laughed as they unknowingly got Ino an outfit, complete with accessories.

"Now!" Ino said, picking a robe up from a pile that had been left in their room. "Let's get in our robes, and enjoy the hot springs!"

* * *

Itachi peered at Moriko through his perch on a branch. She seemed so different. He recalled how she acted when she was younger. So pure, so eager and full of life. But after her sensei died, she was never the same. She was dark and cruel. Menacing, even.

She turned around and met his eyes. Had she sensed him? Impossible. He had disguised his chakra. After she gave him an odd look, he decided that she could not sense him. He sighed inwardly. This was uninteresting. He flew away and decided to stay somewhere else for the night.

* * *

Emiko slowly sunk herself into the hot waters. All her worries, her embarrassments of the girls' confrontation, melted away out of her and flew away with the steam.

Emiko lost track of the time in the hot waters, but she figured that they had been in there for quite some time. She was afraid that she would get dizzy soon. Looking around, she could tell the other girls thought the same thing.

"We should probably get out." Emiko said, and the other girls nodded in agreement.

As soon as they got back to the room, they ordered room service. It wasn't until then that Emiko realized just how hungry she was. And by hearing bits and pieces of what Ino was ordering, it sounded like she wasn't listening to her dad telling her not to order a lot.

The food got there amazingly fast, and Emiko couldn't have been more grateful for that if she wanted to be.

The girls immediately began to eat. The food was wonderful. Or maybe they were just hungry. Either way, it was good.

After eating, the girls all set up who was sleeping where, and they started a movie. But none of them really watched it. They were all to busy gossiping. Emiko felt a wave of relief that the girls included her and she was quickly becoming all of their friend. And to think she had been nervous that she wouldn't fit in.

* * *

Jiraiya rubbed his chin thoughtfully while Naruto was changing. Jiraiya had sensed that Naruto wasn't going to say much else other then the basics. But Emiko seemed like an interesting person. He decided he would make it a point to see her. Maybe he had met her on his travels.

"You ready to go, Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked, while stretching in the doorway.

Jiraiya nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."

Naruto gave his dazzling smile! "Alright!" He said and followed Jiraiya out the door.

When they had finally stopped walking, they were in a small opening in the surrounding forest.

"Now." Jiraiya said as he sat down. "I am going to teach you something...well, I suppose I won't be doing much of the teaching..."

Naruto sat across from his sensei, interested. "What're you gonna teach me?"

Jiraiya sighed, having a feeling that he would be spending most of the night explaining to Naruto what was going to be taught to him.

"Naruto...tell me...have you heard of sage mode?"

* * *

FINALLY! I know, I know, it took way longer then it should've, and I'm sorry for that. And I'd also like to sincerely thank all of you who review. You have no idea how much it means to me, and I love to hear what you think is going to happen. So thanks everyone, and I hope you liked it! Please review!


	14. Akatsuki

So this took a long time...I know...sorry! I had a temporary writers block, but I'm back on track! And if you don't know what sage mode is (though I'm sure most of you do), look it up. Sorry, but I'm not going to go through and explain it. Once again, I do not own Naruto or any of the characters!

Please review and enjoy!

Chapter 14

"So wait...if I don't do it right, I'll turn into a frog?"

Jiraiya sighed. "No, we'll be there to make sure that doesn't happen. But remember, this training is going to take a while. I have a suspicion that the Kyuubi will reject Ma and Pa if they try to connect with you. You'll have to do it yourself."

Naruto nodded. "I know, you already told me that."

"I know, but knowing you, if you don't get it the first time, you'll start getting frustrated. Just remember that this training can sometimes take years."

"But I don't have to stay in that frog place all the time, right? I can come back here when I'm done training for the day, right?"

Jiraiya sighed. "I suppose. You probably just want to so you can have a little fun with your Emiko, no?" He said waggling his eyebrows.

Naruto flushed. "T-There's other people I'd see too!"

"Mm-hmm." Jiraiya said, and Naruto grumbled.

"You should probably go home. It's nearly 10." Jiraiya said.

"Oh, yeah. See you later, Ero-sennin!" Naruto called as he got up and headed home.

Jiraiya watched Naruto leave the forest. He had matured so much...and in a month, too. What a difference a woman could make.

* * *

The party was finally winding down. Hinata had fallen asleep first, and the only people still up were Sakura, Ino and Emiko. And they were all quickly running out of steam.

Ino gave a mighty yawn, and continued with what she was saying.

"So anyways, I think that..I think that I might like someone..." Ino said, blushing.

"Nani?" Sakura and Emiko shrieked at the same time.

"Sh!" Ino snapped at them.

"Nani?" They both repeated, but in a whisper. "Who?" Sakura demanded.

"Sh-Shikamaru..." Ino said.

"Oo good choice." Emiko said smiling deviously.

Ino laughed. "You better watch out, or some of this might get back to Naruto."

"You'd better watch out, or some of this might get back to Shikamaru." Emiko countered.

Ino blanched, then smiled. "Ah. Touché" She said, and all the girls laughed.

Ino yawned again. "I think it's time to go to bed..." She said, and curled up under the covers.

Sakura made a grunt of agreement, and laid down next to Ino.

Emiko smiled at her sleeping friends. Who would've thought that by some freak accident, she would have a totally different (she assumed) and wonderful life? Naruto, the girls, even the villagers were all wonderful and kind. She was beginning to care less and less about who she was, for fear that might mean she'd have to leave this behind.

Emiko laid down on the other side of Ino, and fell asleep with those happy thoughts buzzing in her head.

* * *

Emiko was awakened by loud whispers during the night.

"Sakura, sh! You're going to wake the others up!" She heard Ino shush.

"S-Sorry...but I just had to tell someone...if I didn't, I would've exploded!" Sakura responded.

"So...does this make me a terrible person?" Sakura questioned.

Emiko couldn't see them, but she assumed Ino shook her head.

"No, but it's kinda self-inflicted. If you hadn't turned Naruto down so many times, you would've had him by now." Ino said.

Emiko froze. Sakura liked Naruto? Emiko wasn't sure how she should feel about that. Jealous maybe...maybe even angry. But she didn't. Sakura was Emiko's friend, and Emiko was fairly confident that while they were together, Naruto had eyes for no one but Emiko.

Sakura sighed. "I know...I just have to get over him."

"That's the spirit! Now can I go back to bed?"

Sakura laughed a little. "Sure. Sorry I woke you."

And with that, reassured that her Naruto-kun was safe, Emiko drifted back off to sleep.

* * *

As Itachi was flying out of the village, he saw something that made him do a double take.

Jiraiya? One of the legendary sannin? He wasn't supposed to be in the village...that might complicate things.

Itachi sighed inwardly, annoyed that he had to completely remake his battle strategy. At least that'd give him something to do tonight.

* * *

Naruto awoke the next morning, surprisingly early for him. It was only around nine. But at least Emiko would be back today. And maybe he'd start his sage mode training today.

Excited, he got out of bed and began to make himself breakfast, though he usually skipped the meal because he wasn't up early enough to eat it.

Naruto quickly made a bowl of cereal and began eating. Despite all the facts he had saying today was going to be a great day, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong...

* * *

The girls didn't awake the next morning until around 10. They ordered breakfast and drowsily consumed it. All except Tenten, who was as lively and awake as ever.

"Seriously. How can you be so awake?" Ino demanded.

"I wake up every morning around 6. I can get in some early morning training done." She said.

"I knew it! After all these years of you being able to resist Gai-sensei's 'youthfulness' you've finally cracked! We'll miss you, Tenten!" Ino said dramatically, and they all laughed.

After they were done, Ino checked out of the hot spring, and they all went home. While Emiko was on her way, she found Naruto walking in the direction of the hot spring.

"Coming to get me, Naruto?" Emiko said.

Naruto smiled. "Yeah, actually." He said, and kissed her forehead.

Emiko forgot how much she loved the feeling of Naruto's lips. "I missed you." He said quietly.

"I missed you too." Emiko said.

"By the way." Naruto said, pulling away reluctantly. "Ero-sennin came to the village last night. He wants to meet you."

"Really? I'd love to meet your sensei!" Emiko said smiling.

"No, you wouldn't, but I suppose there's no avoiding it."

Emiko laughed. "He can't be that bad. I'm sure he'll at least try to act more mature then you describe him around me, right? He wouldn't want to embarrass you."

Naruto laughed humorlessly. "Honestly, that's probably the main reason he want to meet you."

Emiko laughed. "In that case, I'm excited to meet him. I wonder what kind of embarrassing secrets he knows about you, Naruto?" She said playfully.

Naruto grumbled and Emiko laughed again. Today was going to be a good day, she was sure of it. And yet...this feeling in the pit of her stomach...it was telling her otherwise.

* * *

Itachi looked at them carefully. Disguised as a raven, he had been flying from tree to tree so he could hear what they were saying. As soon as they were separated...he would make his move. He would have to make sure Jiraiya was a safe distance away before striking...if everything went smoothly, no one should even notice Moriko and Naruto were missing until tomorrow. And that was all the time he needed to make a smooth getaway.

* * *

Emiko unzipped Naruto's jacket. Sure, it was an odd time to have a random make-out session; they usually did it at night. But they missed last night's so they had to make up for it somehow.

Emiko ran a hand down Naruto's rock hard abs and Naruto, getting the message, took his black tank top off, along with her shirt.

They were pressed firmly against each other, kissing ravenously. Emiko was teasing Naruto's hair with her fingers and Naruto was sliding his hands down her back. Naruto suddenly had an overwhelming urge to have sex with Emiko. Why were they waiting? She loved him too, right?

"Emiko-chan..." Naruto panted, pulling away a mere inch so he could speak.

"Yes?" She said, panting as well.

He looked her in the eye seriously. "Would you...do you want to have sex?"

Emiko was shocked at his bluntness. Sure, she had thought about it, and the thought of Naruto inside of her made her shiver, but...now that he asked her...she loved him, but she wasn't sure if she was ready for that.

"I-I don't think I'm ready, Naruto-kun..."

Naruto smiled understandingly. God, did she love him. "I understand. I can wait." Then he smiled devilishly. "In the meantime..." He scooped her up in his arm and laid her on the couch. He straddled her and began kissing her again. He ran his fingertips down her spine and she groaned in pleasure. Naruto chuckled.

"I love you Emiko...so much..." He panted between breaths. Emiko just moaned in response.

After several more minutes of intense making out, Naruto pulled away and laid beside Emiko, panting.

"I'm always amazed by how much I love kissing you. It never gets old." Emiko said.

Naruto laughed. "Likewise."

Emiko turned to face him. "Did Jiraiya-sama give you a specific time that we were going to meet?"

Naruto made a face. "Jiraiya-sama? Too much respect. Just call him Jiraiya or Ero-sennin." Then he turned thoughtful. "Yeah, I think he said we were going to meet where we trained yesterday at 3."

Emiko turned towards the clock. 2:45. "We should probably get going."

Naruto groaned, he _so _didn't want to introduce them. "Yeah, probably..." He said, and began to get dressed.

Once they were decent, they set off to meet Jiraiya. Naruto was grumbling the whole time about not believing anything Jiraiya said about him. Of course, that just made Emiko all the more excited.

Jiraiya heard Naruto approaching with a soft, sing-songy voice. Jiraiya felt approval at this. A sign of a good woman is a good voice.

Soon enough, Naruto and a girl that Jiraiya assumed was Emiko came out of the trees. And she was a looker.

She had left her hair down today, and happiness radiated from her. Everything about her was just perfect. Jiraiya couldn't believe Naruto could land a girl like that.

But something was wrong. He had seen her before, he just knew it. He wouldn't forget a face like that...but where had he seen her?

"Ero-sennin, this is Emiko, Emiko, Ero-sennin." Naruto grumbled.

And then it hit him.

At blinding speed, Jiraiya swooped towards the couple and took Naruto by the sleeve, yanking him away from Emiko's side.

Naruto whacked Jiraiya's hand away from him.

"What the hell?" He snapped, but Jiraiya wasn't paying Naruto any attention. His eyes were on Emiko.

The was Jiraiya was glaring at Emiko made Naruto so mad he was tempted to punch his sensei in the face.

"Hey! What the hell are you _doing_?" Naruto yelled, louder this time.

Jiraiya didn't look at Naruto, but he said, "Naruto. She's not who you think she is."

This made Naruto stop. Did Jiraiya know her?

_"She's a member of Akatsuki!"_

_

* * *

_CLIFFHANGER! That's my treat for not adding in so long. Pretty epic, if I do say so myself. The rest of this chapter was mostly filler, because I really wanted to end the chapter with that epic line. Yep. Next chapter will be out sooner then this one was.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Please review!


	15. Moriko

Are you ready for a flashback chapter? Well you'd better be!

I do not own Naruto or its characters. I'm just a fan!

Please review and enjoy!

Chapter 15

Naruto felt his heart stop. His blood went cold. He couldn't move.

Akatsuki? Naruto couldn't believe that. That...that was crazy...right? Jiraiya must have Emiko confused with someone else. It wouldn't make sense.

Emiko gaped at the old man. She knew she must've had some sort of connection to them but...this? It wasn't right! It couldn't be...!

* * *

Itachi watched the group from a tree. Damn. He waited too long. He would have to take Jiraiya down, too. If Itachi managed to get the element of surprise, he could get it done quickly and still have enough energy to outrun the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.

But Itachi knew he had to do it now. Jiraiya would want to take Moriko to the Hokage and there she would always be under supervision. It was now or never.

Letting out an irritated sigh, Itachi jumped down and landed on a lower branch where he was now visible to the group below.

* * *

Jiraiya looked at the girl who Naruto called Emiko.

It was a huge possibility that she was acting. This whole thing was an act, and she was sneaking around and would take Naruto when his guard was down. But then why would she agree to meet Jiraiya? One thing was for sure. She needed to be put into maximum security while Tsunade, him and the Council decided what to do about this.

Just then, a large raven landed on a branch on a tree that was close to them. It took Jiraiya a second to realize what this meant. But by then it was too late.

Itachi had already changed back to human form and locked gazes with Jiraiya. He was staring straight into the mangekyou sharingan.

Dimensions seemed to ripple, and Jiraiya found himself tied to a post in some sort of red world.

The ropes, which Jiraiya should've been easily able to break out of, seemed like they were made of steel. He couldn't even loosen them.

Suddenly Itachi appeared, sword in hand.

"This is unfortunate. It weakens me considerably, but it's the only quiet way to take you down." With that, Itachi stabbed Jiraiya. Fire shot through his body, and he thought he would explode.

Itachi stabbed him again. And again. And again. And again...

* * *

Naruto jolted with shock as his sensei, who had been ready to fight a second ago, now collapsed onto the ground in obvious agony.

Across from Naruto, Emiko gasped in horror. Itachi looked up at her.

"Come, Moriko. You remember now, do you not?"

Emiko did. A little at least. It was fuzzy...but memories of her and Itachi...and her and Akatsuki...were getting clearer. But she was starting to wish they weren't.

So many people...so many people had died at her hands...but why? She still didn't know why she would do such things to people.

And suddenly it hit her like a bolt of lightning. She remembered.

* * *

She was back in the village. The village from her childhood.

Her 11 year old self was weeping in front of the burning house, almost exactly when Emiko had woken up the last time.

_"Moriko..."_ A voice said from behind her.

Moriko whipped her head up to see what was clearly a younger Itachi.

_"N-Nii-san?" _Moriko said.

_"Nii-san! You have to help! Sensei...maybe he's still alive! We can try to look for him and-"_

_"He's dead." _Itachi said simply. _"And he was more then your sensei. He was our grandfather as well." _Itachi said matter-of-factly.

Tears began flowing out of Moriko's eyes again. _"Then...what now, nii-san? Will...Will I go and live with you and kaa-san and tou-san?"_

He shook his head. _"No, Moriko-chan."_

_"But...but why? I have no where else to go!" _Moriko sobbed.

_"Don't you understand, Moriko-chan? **They **did this." _Itachi said.

_"H-Huh? Who did?"_

_"The leaf village. Our parents. They set this village on fire."_

Moriko cried harder. _"Why would they do such a thing?"_

_"The answer is simple."_ Itachi said, looking directly at her. _"You."_

_"M-Me?" _Moriko gasped.

_"Yes. You see, they're frightened of you. Of whats inside you."_

Moriko's eyes widened. _"Inside me?"_

Itachi sighed. _"I should have figured he wouldn't tell you. Tell me, Moriko, what do you know of Jinchuurikis?"_

Moriko looked puzzled. _"They're people with a bijuu sealed in them, right?"_

Itachi smiled. _"Very good, Moriko-chan."_

She still looked confused. _"I still don't understand, nii-san. What does this have to do with me?"_

Itachi sighed impatiently. _"Don't play that with me, Moriko, I know you're brighter then that. You've already connected the dots, haven't you? You're just scared that you're right, aren't you?"_

Moriko began to cry again. _"That doesn't make sense! How could I not know...?"_

Itachi's cool and semi-patient composure snapped. _"Why do you think you lived here instead of with me, Sasuke and the rest of us? Father was disgusted by you! He **hated **you!"_

Moriko flinched at her brothers harsh voice and began to cry again.

Then Itachi did something that truly amazed Emiko, who was standing as a spectator to all of this. He seemed to realize the harshness in his voice, and genuine regret flashed over his face, and he knelt onto the ground next to Moriko and embraced her.

_"Don't cry, Moriko-chan. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."_

_"I-If it disgusted him, why was i-it put into me i-in the first place?" _Moriko asked in between sobs.

Itachi sighed. _"I don't suppose you knew that you and Sasuke were actually twins?"_

_"N-No I didn't know that. I always thought he was older then me. I never met him so..."_

Itachi smiled sadly. _"Actually you're older then him."_

Moriko didn't respond, so Itachi continued.

_"Both our parents were excellent shinobi. Our mother loved to travel. When she was very pregnant with the two of you, her, Father, Grandfather and I took a small vacation to a small, non-ninja village. __While we were there, the village was attacked by the Nibi."_

_"The two tails?" _Moriko asked, and Itachi nodded.

_"Needless to say, our mother was relatively useless due to her pregnancy. Grandfather and Father did their best to fight the beast off. Meanwhile, Mother went into labor. The local doctor was delivering you two."_

_"The Nibi proved far too much for Father and Grandfather to handle. Father was rendered unconscious and Grandfather had begun his retreat when he heard that you had been delivered. Now, Grandfather was an amazing ninja. He traveled the world learning foreign and difficult jutsus. Including the sealing jutsu."_

Moriko gasped at that, but Itachi continued.

_"Grandfather knew he had no choice. He loved you, but it had to be done. He sealed the Nibi inside of you. Shortly after, Sasuke was __delivered. When Father awoke and was told of what Grandfather did, he said he wanted to see neither of you again. Sasuke wasn't even told of you. Mother was devastated and it ate her away inside, but she kept her mouth shut, under Father's command. We weren't to say a word about you. We told everyone who knew that mother was having twins that you died during childbirth and it was too painful to speak of."_

Moriko sobbed violently.

_"You do realize what this means, don't you, Moriko?" _Itachi asked.

_"H-Huh?"_

_"If the leaf village realizes you're alive, they'll hunt you down. There's no place safe for you anymore."_

Moriko's eyes widened in fear. _"Th-Then what will I do, nii-san?"_

Itachi put both hands on Moriko's shoulders and forced her to look at him.

_"Listen to me, Moriko-chan. Do you hate the leaf village?"_

_"H-Hate?" _Moriko said hesitantly.

_"Yes, hate. They took everything from you. They took your family from birth and now they took your sensei. You have to **hate **them."_

Moriko looked down and didn't answer. Itachi sighed in frustration. He stood up and turned away from Moriko who was still kneeling on the ground.

_"...yes..."_

Itachi turned around to see Moriko looking at him with the brilliant, furious blue eyes of the Nibi. Her glare was so feral that even Itachi, who had come straight from slaughtering his family, couldn't suppress a shiver.

_"I **hate **them..." _Moriko said through clenched teeth.

Itachi suppressed a smile. _"Good. Don't worry, Moriko-chan, I won't ever leave you. We're together from here on out."_

_"Where will we go? I though no where was safe for me."_

_"There is an organization...a very powerful one...one that can protect you, as long as you don't tell them that you are a Jinchuuriki. And soon, once I train you, everywhere will be safe for you. Because you'll simply be that powerful."_

A power hungry glint lit Moriko's eyes, one that made Itachi smirk. But then she paused.

_"Why can't they know that I'm a Jinchuuriki?"_

_"Because they are hunting Jinchuuriki."_

Moriko gasped, so Itachi continued.

_"They want to harness the power of all the bijuus in order to bring world peace. As long as they don't know where the Nibi is, or who the Nibi host is, you'll be safe."_

Moriko nodded. After all, it's not like she had much of a choice.

_"But in exchange for their protection...you may have to do some things that you don't exactly agree with."_

_"Like what?"_

_"Like kill people." _Itachi said simply. Moriko gasped.

_"I-I can't kill people! That...that's wrong!"_

_"It's the price you have to pay, Moriko-chan! This group is here to establish peace. You won't lay a finger on anyone who isn't a threat to the peace of the world."_

Moriko shifted uncomfortably. _"But...but sensei told me...that's wrong!"_

_"Do you really think he'd rather you be captured and skinned by Konoha? He would want this for you, Moriko-chan! It's your only option."_

Moriko took a deep breath, and said the words that would ultimately change her life forever.

_"I'll do it."_

Itachi smiled. _"I'm glad. I'll be right next to you the whole time, Moriko-chan. Remember that."_

Moriko nodded, still unsure of her decision. _"So...what's this organization called?"_

Itachi looked off into the distance.

_"Akatsuki..."_

* * *

Well. I made you wait 15 chapters. Now you finally know the story. That was a lot of fun to write...I like writing flashbacks! And yeah, Jiraiya went down much easier then he would've in the anime/manga, but it just fit in my story better. So deal with it! :)

Hope you enjoyed it! Please review!


	16. Escape

So this chapter is very late. I don't really have an excuse except for a bit of a writers block and my computer was down for about a week. But good news: Winter Break is coming in two weeks and I'll probably get a lot of writing done then. A chapter probably/hopefully won't ever be this late again.

I was also a little conflicted if I should start calling Emiko 'Moriko', cause you know, she has her memories back and everything, or if I should just call her Emiko still...so I kinda switched back and forth. Mostly it's just Naruto and other people that knew her as Emiko that still call her Emiko. Hope that's not too confusing.

If I owned Naruto, this fanfiction is how the manga/anime would've went. So obviously, I do not own Naruto. Please review and enjoy!

Chapter 16

Moriko looked back up at Itachi's unwavering stare. She remembered everything. Her body filled with rage. How dare he? Obviously she knows that he's just going to take her back to Akatsuki where they'll kill her to get the Nibi. She shivered a little thinking of all the pain a Jinchuuriki goes through when their bijuu is extracted. Her shiver ran deeper when she remembered how many times she had helped preform that jutsu. But her annoyance and rage soon returned when she looked back up at Itachi's unchanging face.

"You're joking, right? You honestly expect me to just 'come'"? Moriko snapped. His betrayal still stung.

"Emiko!" Moriko heard a wonderfully familiar voice to her right. She turned and met Naruto's frantic eyes.

"Th-That's not true, right? Tell me it's not true, Emiko! Please!" He said so frantically that Moriko's whole stomach clenched and she felt like vomiting. How she wished she could tell him it wasn't true. How she wished she could tell him Itachi was lying and they could kill him and live happily ever after. How she wished they could grow old and she would never have to tell Naruto about Akatsuki. But she couldn't. Because no matter how happy it would make both of them, she couldn't bring herself to lie to Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun..." Moriko said quietly.

Naruto felt his eyes widen as he realized that Emiko wasn't going to tell him that she was lying. To his horror, he also felt himself tearing up. This wasn't how it was supposed to go! He was so in love with Emiko, the thought of losing her, and to Akatsuki of all things, was just too much.

"I-I'm sorry..." Emiko finished, and Naruto's chest fell. He couldn't breathe. But what did it matter? He would rather die then lose Emiko now.

Moriko felt her own tears overflow. How...? In one minute, she went from absolute happiness to her life falling apart. She couldn't stay with Naruto. The realization hit her hard. If she did, that would just put him in danger. Itachi would kill anyone in his way to get to Moriko. And Moriko refused to let that happen. But the situation at hand. How was she planning to get away from Itachi? She wasn't strong enough, that much was obvious. She was trained well, thanks to Itachi. She had even unlocked her mangekyou sharingan when her Sensei died, though she and Itachi hadn't experimented with it yet in their training. She was outmatched, that was clear. She had to make a run for it.

But what about Naruto? Itachi would probably just kill him for fun if Moriko left. Naruto was strong, but not strong enough to take on Itachi.

"I'm not playing games today, Moriko. Come with me or Naruto dies." Itachi said simply and Moriko saw Naruto stiffen out of the corner of her eye. Moriko quickly flicked her eyes over to him, only to see that he had done the same to her. Moriko had never really noticed just how in sync they were until that moment. Just by looking at his eyes, she knew that they were both planning to make a run for it.

In that instant, they both flew off the ground in the exact same direction, running for their lives.

Moriko and Naruto ran. They didn't know where they were going, they just knew they needed to get away.

Every now and then, they would hear footsteps running behind them, reminding them to keep their footing or all was lost.

"We should head back to the village." Naruto panted while they were running through the trees.

"Are you crazy? You really want to lead Itachi into the village?" Emiko said.

"We won't get far running, Emiko! We need help, and Tsunade Baa-chan is there," Naruto said.

Moriko paused for a second to think. "We'll near the village border. You run and tell Tsunade-sama what happened and I'll keep running."

"No," Naruto said. "I am not leaving you."

Moriko tried not to groan. This wasn't the time for him to pull this!

"Naruto, this isn't up for discussion. He's after me. If he sees your going into the village to get Tsunade, he won't waste his time trying to retrieve you when he's this close to me."

"Emiko-chan, _please..._" He said. "Don't do this...let me come with you. I don't care...I don't care if I ever return to the Leaf Village. I want to be with you. Forever. And if we get captured...If we get...killed...it won't matter to me, because I'll be with you. That's all I need."

Moriko's heart clenched. But she knew she couldn't let him. Because she loved him as much as he loved her was why she needed him to return to the village. So she knew she didn't get him killed.

"Naruto-kun...I...I-I love you so much. But if you get Tsunade-sama, we won't have to die. We can survive this, and then we can spend forever together."

Naruto felt his insides curl. He didn't want to leave her. Not when she was in danger like this. But her logic was undeniable. If Naruto managed to get Tsunade, Kakashi-sensei, and others to go after Itachi with him, this could be it. They might be rid of him for good.

"O-Okay, I'll do it." Naruto said, and Moriko felt a wave of relief as they changed paths and began running at top speed back to the village.

Moriko began to breathe heavily, but she realized that Naruto still didn't even know why Itachi was after her. He just loved her so much that he did what she asked, no questions asked.

"H-He's after me because I'm a jinchuuriki..." Moriko panted. Naruto looked at her, shocked. Then his eyes narrowed. It made sense now. They had been hunting her like they were hunting him.

"You ready, Naruto?" Moriko said.

Naruto nodded. "We'll be there with help before you know it. I promise."

Moriko nodded, her heart pounding through her chest. She knew well that this might be the last time she ever saw Naruto. She promised herself at that moment, she wouldn't slow down in hopes that Naruto and Tsunade-sama might come with help. She wouldn't let Naruto get dragged into this. No one but her had seen a full display of Itachi's abilities. Moriko had heavy doubts that anyone in the Leaf Village could defeat him. She needed to make sure Naruto stayed safe if it was the last thing she did.

"I love you, Naruto-kun. So much..." Moriko said, and began to cry as the village gates came into view.

"I love you too. And I will protect you. I won't let him take you."

Moriko did her best to nod. This was it. This was goodbye.

"Goodbye...Naruto-kun." She said and he ran for the village as she turned and headed back to the forest.

"I'll never forget you..." She whispered as the tears flowed down her face.

She could still hear Itachi behind her if she listened close enough. Good, he had decided to follow her. Channeling her chakra to her feet, she flew through the trees with a burst of speed. She didn't want Naruto and Tsunade-sama to catch up. She knew in her heart that none of them could beat Itachi. Tsunade was amazing, but she did mostly medicine, not fighting. And ANBU...Itachi had lead ANBU before. They wouldn't do any good. All Moriko cared about was first, to make Naruto safe. And second, to make herself safe.

Moriko ran. She didn't know where she was going, she just knew she needed to get away.

* * *

Naruto ran by the village. He didn't waste time with the streets, he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, which earned him a few glares from the villagers. Not that he cared or was paying attention.

Naruto burst into Tsunade's office still at top speed.

"Baa-chan!" He yelled.

"Naruto! What the hell do you think you're doing just bursting into my office? I-"

"Itachi's here!"

"Nani?" Tsunade yelled.

"Quick, we have to hurry, he's chasing Emiko! Assemble a team or something, old hag, we gotta go!" Naruto said frantically.

"He's chasing Emiko? Why?"

"No time, we need to go! _NOW!"_ Naruto said.

"Naruto, you need to give me a minute! Itachi is strong, and it'll take a minute to assemble a strong enough group!"

"We don't have time for this, dammit!"

"Naruto, calm down. I'll summon ANBU, Kakashi and someone from the Inuzuka clan to find them. We'll go in a group. Don't do anything irrational."

Naruto was pacing the floor, clearly panicking, while Tsunade did her best to scrape together a strong group.

Tsunade, Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, Kiba and Tsume* Inuzuka and two ANBU, Yamato and Yugao made their group. Until Hinata found out and demanded that if Kiba could go, so could she. So she joined them.

Once they were together, Naruto didn't waste time pushing everyone out the door.

"We've already wasted enough time! Who knows where they could be by now!" He had said.

They left immediately after Akamaru got a scent. Tsunade hoped while they were running that their group was enough. Yamato and Yugao were the best ANBU Tsunade could gather last minute. Hinata, Kiba and Sakura were young, but fine additions. Kakashi was, of course, needed. Tsunade's confidence in their group would've been incredibly low without him.

With doubts buzzing in her head, they followed the scent of Itachi.

_Please, Yondaime, let this have been the right thing to do..._

* * *

*Tsume is Kiba's mom

And for those of you who don't know, Yugao is the purple-haired ANBU. If thats not ringing a bell, you can google her.

Again, sorry this took so long. But I hope it was worth the wait. Thanks for reading!

Please review! Hope you enjoyed :)


	17. Race

Later then I would've liked to update, but at least it's here! I've actually had this chapter just about finished for a few days, just hadn't gotten around to adding it. I'm also officially going to get chapters out sooner. I just got a new computer, and it runs like a dream. My old one was such crap. All it did was freeze. Now about this chapter: This is also going to be another mostly flashback chapter, so it gives some insight on Moriko. Plus, for some reason, I really like writing flashback chapters. So without further wait, here's chapter 17!

If I owned Naruto, it wouldn't be anywhere near as popular as it is today.

Please review and enjoy!

Chapter 17

Hidan snorted incredulously. _"Them? Tracking us? Ha! I'd like to see what those little fuckers would do if they found us!"_

Pain's gaze remained emotionless. _"Yes, they are harmless. But all the same, they are speaking of us to other villages. It is best for us to remain as low profile as possible."_

_"So who are you sending?" _Kisame asked.

Pain seemed to consider for a minute. _"It would be best for it to be done without obvious jutsu. Then it would just look like a clan of barbarians came through."_

_"So, sword users." _Sasori said.

_"Oi, Itachi, you have some experience with wiping out a clan. You should do it." _Kisame said. Itachi stayed silent. He had told Moriko that he killed their clan as revenge for burning her village.

Pain nodded in agreement. _"Yes, Itachi, you and Moriko will do it."_

All eyes turned to the siblings. Identical black hair and eyes clearly marked them as related. Moriko, at 13, was the youngest member of Akatsuki ever. Not that you would've guessed by looking at her. She easily looked 16. Her cold, ruthless gaze matched her brother's perfectly. In identical black robes with red clouds, they could've been gender-bending versions of each other.

Moriko inclined her head in a slight bow. _"Hai, Pain-sama."_

Later that night, they set off.

Conversation was minimal, seeing as they both were more or less emotionless. Or in Moriko's case, pretending to be emotionless. She hated the very thought of wiping out an entire village, an entire culture. But it was in the name of self-preservation. Her heart had hardened to the point where her safety was the most important thing always. And if being emotionless and killing an entire clan was for the sake of self-preservation, then so be it.

_"We're here." _Itachi said as the came to a large vally that the village was nestled in.

_"How should we attack?" _Moriko said.

_"I'll come in from the north side, you from the south. Most villagers should be asleep by now. Try to be as silent as possible. We don't need screaming villagers running around."_

Moriko nodded in agreement. _"Hai."_ She said simply, and they set off in opposite directions.

Moriko took a deep breath and steadied herself.

_"One day you can have revenge on the Leaf. But you have to do what Akatsuki says first." _Moriko echoed the words Itachi had said to her a while ago when she was 12.

With that thought in her mind, Moriko entered the south-most house.

It was a rather large house. Five pairs of shoes were at the front door. Silently, Moriko walked up the upstairs. The first door on her left held a couple, fast asleep.

The woman had extremely blond hair down to her waist. Her face was childish, almost doll-like. The man, however was her opposite. Dark haired and rugged looking, he could've used a shave.

Moriko unsheathed her sword and approached the man's side of the bed. She raised the sword above his heart.

_"Forgive me...sensei..." _She whispered to herself right before she plunged the sword into his heart.

His eyes snapped open at the last second, but he didn't make a sound. Moriko extracted her sword quickly from his chest.

The doll-faced woman grumbled in her sleep.

_"Daichi?" _She murmured as she began to turn over.

Moriko flashed to her side of the bed. The woman had time to gasp before Moriko plunged her sword into her.

Thoughts of regret were now gone from Moriko's mind. She was focused on the mission at hand: destroy this village.

* * *

She was covered in blood. Spatters of it covered her Akatsuki robe. It left stains on her shoes. She was sure she had plenty in her hair. She even had spatters on her face. She didn't bother wiping them away; there was much more blood on her hands then her face. It would just make her face more bloody.

She was about to enter another house; she had lost count of how many she had been to, when she felt Itachi's chakra. She turned around.

_"We can leave these last few houses," _He had said. _"They're in the middle of the village. Once we set the borders on fire, they won't be able to get out."_

Moriko nodded. As if for the first time that night, she felt a pang of regret. She didn't want to burn the people. She was uneasy about fire since her sensei died in one. But again, like a switch had been turned on, she snapped out of it. After all, it was for her self preservation.

They separated again to opposite sides of the now dead village. Moriko looked upon it with slight regret, before saying, _"Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"_

A ball of flames erupted from her mouth as she set a good amount of the village ablaze. She could see a ball of flame on th other side of the village and knew Itachi had done the same.

In hardly a minute, the fire completely surrounded the village and was making quick work of the wooden homes. She heard muffled screams coming from the middle of the village. The people her and Itachi left. Moriko felt her heart sink to her stomach as the screaming ceased and the entire village was ablaze.

"_Moriko_." She heard Itachi call her name from behind her.

Moriko turned her head to look at him. When she made eye contact with him, she saw something shift in his eyes. It wasn't until then that she realized she was crying. She felt a single tear falling down her face and turned away quickly and wiped it away, smearing blood across her face in the process.

"_Moriko-chan_..." She felt a jolt when he called her that. That was his "I'm going to stop being the bad ass Akatsuki member for a little while" voice.

"_Sensei...he'd be disappointed_..." Moriko said without looking at him. It was all she could think to say.

"_No, Moriko-chan, he wouldn't be_-"

"_Yes, nii-san, he would be. If there was one thing he stressed, it was that he taught me ninjutsu to help people. Not kill them_."

"_No. That's not why he taught you. That may be what he told you, but it is a lie_."

Moriko turned to him, confused. He approached her slowly and put his hand on her shoulder as they both turned to the still burning town.

"_He taught you so you could defend yourself. He knew. In the back of his mind, he always knew that one day he would be gone and people would look for you. He wanted you to be able to look after yourself_."

"_He...he told you that?" _Moriko asked.

"_Yes, he did." _Itachi said simply.

_"But he wouldn't have wanted it like this. He wouldn't have wanted me to kill people. He would've wanted me to look for another way..."_

_"There is no other way." _Itachi said, beginning to lose patience. Moriko flinched at his harsh tone, and he softened again. _"And there was nothing he loved more then you. If you being safe meant killing a village, he would've done it without hesitation. And he would've wanted you to do the same for yourself. Your safety was his primary concern. His dying wish was to have you taken from a burning building. Honor your sensei, Moriko-chan, and do whatever it takes to live."_

Moriko had stopped crying. Wiping the remaining tears from her cheeks, she decided to listen to Itachi and do just that- live, no matter what the cost.

She flipped the switch again, and became cold, calculating Moriko. One of the last Uchiha. Youngest member of Akatsuki.

Itachi watched Moriko's face harden again, and relaxed. She would stay. He had spun a good web of lies, he had to admit. Moriko was at the tips of his fingers, where he would be sure to keep her.

* * *

Moriko remembered this memory as she was running frantically through the forest. That asshole. He'd been planning on turning her in this whole time, hadn't he? Her own brother. He had never really cared about her. How she could've been so selfish all these years, thinking only of herself, was unbelievable. Moriko ignored the voice in her head that said _"But it kept you alive..." _and she kept running.

* * *

"Any luck, Hinata?" Tsunade said, hoping the young Hyuga might've found something with her Byakugan.

"I don't see anything right now." She replied, still scanning the forest.

"Tsume? Kiba? What about you?"

"Nothing." Kiba said with annoyance.

"Same here" Tsume said sourly.

Tsunade cursed quietly to herself. If they didn't find them now, Naruto would go out looking for them by himself. They had to keep searching.

"Wait!" Tsume said excitedly and the whole group held their breath as they waited for Tsume to say something.

"I thought so..." Tsume said and she looked at Tsunade. "It's Itachi. I'd recognize that stench anywhere."

"Which way?" Tsunade said without hesitation.

"North." Tsume said, and just like that, they were in a chase. Tsunade hated to admit it, but Emiko had started to grow on her as well. And the changes she brought in Naruto...she couldn't even imagine what it'd do to him if they lost her. It was a race now.

* * *

Moriko was starting to panic now. She had been running for a while, with no sign of losing Itachi. She had to come up with something to shake him. But what? He lost her once, she doubted he'd be careless enough to do it again. And judging by the approaching steps behind her, she needed to think of something...fast...

* * *

This took far longer then it should've. I know, I'm sorry. Just so...much...homework! to hell with the school system! i have more important things to do! (aka naruto fanfics.)


	18. NOT A REAL CHAPTER

**First off, thanks to everyone for the reviews! Second off, I know I suck for taking so long to put up another chapter. I've had a bunch of shit going on, I just got a job and my free time is very minimal. **

**BUT the next chapter is about halfway finished. I would try to hurry and get it done, but I don't want to give you guys a half assed chapter. I'll also delete this little notice thing as soon as the next chapter is all done. I just wanted y'all to know that I didn't die or anything.**

**Again, sooooo sorry for the wait, but just so its known- I will never abandon this story!**


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